Off the wire
• China, Brazil should work together on steel overcapacity: MOC  • Chinese shares close higher Tuesday  • Urgent: One missing after Chinese fishing boat sinks in waters off S. Korea  • Australia should look to fiscal stimulus in two-speed economy: bank  • Quotable quotes from President Xi's speech at Peruvian Congress  • Xinhua News Agency to bolster cooperation with regional UN body  • Talks on reunification of Cyprus fail to reach deal  • Interview: Chinese president's upcoming Chile visit to inject new vitality into bilateral cooperation: ambassador  • WeChat accounts are new channel for individual expression: survey  • Tokyo shares close higher as quake worries abate  
You are here: 　 Home

ADB provides loan, grant to Cambodia for financial sector boost

Xinhua, November 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of 40 million U.S. dollars and a grant of 600,000 U.S. dollars to help strengthen Cambodia's financial sector and promote financial inclusion within the country's unbanked population.

"Cambodia's economy has been performing well but achieving inclusive growth has been a challenge, particularly among people who don't have access to formal financial services," Hiroyuki Aoki, senior financial sector specialist at ADB's Southeast Asia Department, said on Tuesday.

"The project will help the Cambodian government to develop its financial sector to reduce financial exclusion and promote inclusive growth," he said.

The Manila-based lender said Cambodia's impressive economic growth over the past several years has reduced poverty levels from 47.8 percent in 2007 to 13.5 percent in 2014. Still, many people are vulnerable to poverty, particularly those in rural areas, where 90 percent of poor people live, and the 41 percent of the population living on 2 U.S. dollars a day or less.

It added that the financial sector should be further developed, as only 59 percent of Cambodians have access to formal finance, and about 30 percent of the adult population are excluded from any form of financial services. Endit