Cambodia allocates $1.16 billion USD for economic, social supports during COVID-19

The Cambodian government has allocated 1.16 billion U.S. dollars to address the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economy and Finance Ministry Secretary of State Vongsey Vissoth said here on Wednesday. “The amount of 564 million dollars has been allocated for health and social assistance and 600 million dollars for economic support through lending to small and medium enterprises,” he said during a press conference.

Since the virus outbreak, the government has released 364 million dollars for economic and social supports, he said. Vissoth said the stimulus package did not include tax breaks granted to affected companies, especially to those in garment and tourism industries.

Labor Ministry secretary of state Heng Sour said due to the pandemic, the Southeast Asian nation has experienced a decline in the exports of garment, footwear and travel goods in the first half of 2020. He said the kingdom exported those products worth 3.78 billion dollars during the January-June period this year, down 5.4 percent over the same period last year.

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