Bank Official: The Global Economic Crisis Does Not Affect Banks in Cambodia – Thursday, 27.8.2009

Posted on 28 August 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 627
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“Phnom Penh: The director of the National Bank of Cambodia said that even though the financial crisis is affecting many countries in the world, Cambodia does not suffer from it seriously.

“In the morning of 26 August 2009, the Club of Cambodian Journalists held a roundtable meeting about banking management and the trust of the public, with the participation of many journalists and representatives of the National Bank of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

“Ms. Tal Nay Im, the director general of the National Bank of Cambodia, who represented the governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, Mr. Chea Chanto, to preside over the meeting, said, ‘In this time of a global financial crisis, we must point out the progress of the banking systems in Cambodia within the last two years.’ She went on to say that the banking system in Cambodia operates at present with the National Bank of Cambodia as the central bank of the country, 27 commercial banks, 2 representation offices of foreign banks, 6 expert banks, and 25 micro-finance institutions under the control and monitoring of the National Bank of Cambodia.

“Ms. Tal Nay Im added that during the last two years, he number of commercial banks operating in Cambodia has increased. Most of them are foreign banks that come to invest in the banking sector in Cambodia. The increase in the interest looking for benefits by foreign banks at the Cambodia market is considered, by Cambodian people, as a positive point, because Cambodia has political stability and a market, seen by foreign investors as having potential for strong progress under the legal framework of Cambodia, though there is no neutrality yet, but there is a favorable environment to attract investment in a free trade atmosphere, which does not limit the in-and-out flow of capital or currency exchange operations. She continued to say that also the fact that there is a high level of dollarization in the Cambodian economy helps to ease the control of active and inactive property of a majority of the banks that operates with dollars. Even though Cambodia is a small country in the region, it has potential for development and investment for profit almost in every economic sector which can be considered as having an interesting outlook for foreign investors.

“Ms. Tal Nay Im went on to say that in Cambodia in 2009, the number of people who deposit money at commercial banks is 820,284, corresponding to 6% of the country’s populations, excluding the deposits at the micro-finance system. Also, Cambodia had reserved currency resources at the National Bank of US$100 million in 1998, but now US$2,300 million in 2008.

“The Country Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation of Germany, Ms. Rabea Brauer, said that provided that Cambodia does not suffer from the impact of the financial crisis as seriously as the United States, according to a study conducted previously, the financial crisis has an impact to a smaller extent, especially on women and children, and this impact will continue.

“She added that journalists should focus on topics about the impact of the global financial crisis on women and children.”

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2033, 27.8.2009
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Thursday, 27 August 2009