Cambodia NA approves draft State budget spending for 2022

Speaking during a NA session, Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth said the budget is equal to 27.95 percent of the kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP).

He said that the 2022 budget is essential to respond to the impacts of COVID-19, restore economic growth, and ensure the success of the commune elections and the success of the ASEAN summits when Cambodia is the host.

Pornmoniroth held that the Southeast Asian nation's economy is projected to grow 4.8 percent in 2022 from 2.4 percent in 2021.

To meet the expenditure next year, the government is expected to earn a total revenue of 6.3 billion USD next year, up 19.3 percent from this year, the draft budget law said, adding that it has also planned to borrow another 1.6 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDR), or 2.26 billion USD, from friendly countries and development partners in 2022.

Chheang Vun, chairman of the National Assembly's commission on economy, finance, banking and audit, said the 2022 budget would be focused on general administration, the fight against COVID-19, health, education, economy-driven sector, social sector, national defence, security and public order.

Earlier, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said that Cambodia has spent 2.3 billion USD dealing with the COVID-19 crisis in the past 20 months.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Stueng Trang-Kroch Chhmar Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge on November 23, PM Hun Sen said that the country has used its State budget to buy 28 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to vaccinate more than 14 million local people against the pandemic.

With its high vaccination rate, the Southeast Asian nation has recently reopened the country in all areas.

He said he is confident that the reopening of the country now is not a setback, and adding that the kingdom's economy is expected to grow around 3 percent this year and up to 5 percent in 2022.

After more than three weeks of resuming operations of the majority of sectors, Cambodia has seen low COVID-19 case number at two digits./.