News

Officials of NGOs Licadho and Sahmakum Teang Tnaut will attend a closed-door meeting at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday to explain the findings of their recent report claiming that increasing levels of debt at microfinance institutions (MFIs) has resulted in human rights violations. ...

The National Bank of Cambodia ( NBC), which is the regulator of the banking and finance industry, promulgated the Code of Banking Practices on Monday with an aim of further building confidence of the public in the industry, officials said. The sector had received a ...

The Cambodian finance industry is to celebrate the sixth Banking and Finance Conference a week from today, at a meeting that will focus on developing technology in the country’s financial sector. ...

Savings levels at Cambodia’s microfinance institutions (MFIs) have recovered well since the widespread withdrawal that followed last July’s disputed national election, with more than $90 million deposited in the first quarter of this year. The amount of deposits in MFI accounts fell from $378 million in ...

When 46-year-old Than Thol got a $900 loan from Samic Microfinance last year, he took advantage of a little-known and  lengthily worded insurance program called Measure for Economic and Accelerated Development for All, or MEADA. MEADA provides coverage for families of mostly lower-income borrowers in the ...

Major financial institutions show more trust in providing loans to the agricultural sector, evidenced by increasing agricultural loan disbursement, thanks to potential growth in the sector and better preparation of financial report among borrowers, according to industry insiders. Acleda Bank, Cambodia’s largest domestically owned bank, has ...

The first time Leang Horng, a resident of Kandal province’s Saang district, made use of a micro-finance institution, a loan was the only service he needed. At that time, Horng had no idea about deposits or money transfers. But things have changed in the past few ...

Despite an expanding financial sector, increasing access to credit and strong economic growth in recent years, fewer than 1 in 20 Cambodians has a bank account, according to a new policy working paper by the World Bank. According to the paper – released earlier this month ...

Despite challenges, Cambodia has potential for the establishment and expansion of social businesses, participants of the Microfinance & Social Business Conference in Phnom Penh said yesterday. While social business in Cambodia is still in an early phase compared to micro-finance  “Cambodia is a promising land” for such ...

A meeting between microfinance organizations and the finance minister yesterday resulted in no agreements or special measures for debtors affected by last year’s floods, a microfinance representative said, adding that the sector had done enough already to address concerns over debt among flooded communities. On ...

The US government is working with a Cambodian microfinance institution to finance $2.7million in loans to farmers and small- and medium-sized agro-businesses in Battambang, Kompong Thom, Pursat and Siem Reap provinces in order to improve their access to credit, the US Embassy said. USAid will work ...

The worst floods in a decade may boost the number of nonperforming loans in the Kingdom’s microfinance industry in the fourth quarter, insiders said yesterday. However, those insiders said the damage done to Cambodia’s agriculture sector would not have a significant impact given the MFIs’ diversified ...

While rising inflation poses some financial challenges for rural farmers, it generally isn’t preventing them from paying off loans from microfinance institutions (MFIs). Farmers tend to be able to pay their loans off even though higher prices of food, fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, labor, and some ...

A joint venture between Yayasan Restu, a Malaysian organization, and the Cambodian Muslim Development Foundation is set to establish a microfinance institution with $1 million in start-up capital. The institution will allow members of Cambodia’s Myslim community to obtain loans necessary to start small businesses. ...