Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday assured the public the Kingdom is not facing insolvency despite the economy contracting for the first time in three decades last year.

Cambodia has deployed around $3 billion in reserve funds for relief during lockdowns, cash assistance, medical equipment and other necessities, the prime minister said during a meeting of the National Committee  for Combating Covid-19.

More than 1,000 new cases were confirmed yesterday and the Ministry of Health warned that the country is at a “red line”. Any further escalation or increased transmission of the “Delta” variant could result in a second round of lockdowns. The quarantine period for those testing positive for Delta and Delta Plus variants has been extended to 21 days.

“No country seems to have avoided community transmission, even North Korea,” the prime minister said.

He stressed the government would continue caring for financially vulnerable families and business sectors affected by the crisis. He also said the government will continue paying state salaries to civil servants and armed forces bi-monthly as usual.

The 2021 national budget allocated $719 million for pandemic-related relief and recovery intervention, compared with $823 million in 2020.

The Kingdom spent 1.4 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on a social security net, Moody’s Analytics reported last month, adding it doled out more than any other country in ASEAN in its relief to the vulnerable during the pandemic in relationship to its GDP.

The government has spent more than $335 million in direct aid to more than 700,000 households during the pandemic.

At a bare minimum, individuals received at least $30 to $40 per month, but the National Social Protection Council (NSPC) told Khmer Times last month that “the smallest demographic received that amount”.

Households with just one child are small in number, said NSPC Secretary-General Chan Narith.

The Cambodian economy shrank by 3.1 percent last year and is projected to grow by 4 percent this year, according to the World Bank.

This forecast is underpinned by continued vaccination efforts, an end to lockdowns and the manufacturing sector being able to meet US demand for goods, particularly garments.

The bank’s downside scenario projects the economy will grow at a more modest 1 percent in 2021.

Earlier this week, for the ninth time, the government renewed its measures to help cushion the impact of the pandemic on the country’s labour force and the poor.

This time around the government said it has extended its financial support programmes for another three months to help the garment and textile industry, tourism sector and poor people from July to September 2021.

It said Covid-19 continues to evolve and spread alarmingly with the recent mutations of the virus, which has increased socio-economic pressures in many parts of the world, including Cambodia.

Husain Haider / Khmer Times