Gov’t to borrow over $1B this year: report
The government expects to borrow nearly $1 billion from external creditors this year, primarily for infrastructure development, pushing the national debt over $6 billion, according to a report issued on November 4 by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. About a third of this amount, some $341 million, had been borrowed during the first half of 2016, pooling credit from traditional bilateral and multilateral lending sources, the report noted. However, only $235 million of the new debt had been disbursed during the period. Bilateral lenders, including traditional partners Japan, France and South Korea, provided $208 million in loans during the first half of the year. Some $26.5 million of this was borrowed from Thailand – the first line of credit from the country during the last three years on record. Meanwhile, China, which has been Cambodia’s dominant patron during recent years, recorded zero in repayable debt issued during the period. The report did not include grants.
