News
Lenders come out of the dark
More than a year into a government-backed campaign to clamp down on unlicensed lenders, nearly 130 small lenders operating under the radar have come into the fold, officials said yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/lenders-come-out-dark
Banks covering their assets
Cambodian financial institutions surveyed yesterday said they were in compliance with the central bank’s revised liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirements as the deadline passed to increase their cash and highly liquid assets to weather any internal or external shocks. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/banks-covering-their-assets
Current assets in Cambodia's banking system rise to 25.6 bln USD by June
Current assets in Cambodia’s banking and financial institutions had risen to 25.6 billion U.S. dollars by June 2016, an increase of 21.3 percent in the last 12 months, according to the biannual report of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), or the central bank, on ...
XINHUA
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=332556
Woori ruled out of Prasac bid
South Korean financial giant Woori Bank, widely seen as the preferred bidder for a 50 per cent stake in Cambodian microlender Prasac, is out of the running as it was not presented to the central bank as an official bidder, local banking officials have said. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/woori-ruled-out-prasac-bid
Financial literacy in schools
Financial literacy, for students to make effective and informed money management decisions, will now be in the general education curriculum due to joint efforts by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS). ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/27905/financial-literacy-in-schools/
Bank deposits get protection
The Kingdom’s central bank ‒ the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) ‒ is working closely with experts from the US Treasury to set up a depositors’ protection scheme among banks in the country. This move was welcomed by the country’s banking industry with CEOs saying ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/27744/bank-deposits-get-protection/
FAST payments to move riel quickly
Three months since the central bank soft-launched its FAST payment system it is taking the system public, making electronic riel-denominated transfers available to the customers of more than a dozen financial institutions. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/fast-payments-move-riel-quickly
Microfinancer Prasac looking to partner up with Korean giant
Woori Bank, South Korea’s second-largest bank in terms of assets, is vying to purchase a 50 per cent stake Cambodia’s largest microfinance institution, Prasac, the company’s CEO confirmed yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/microfinancer-prasac-looking-parter-korean-giant
NBC modernizes payment system
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) received a grant totaling $8 million from the South Korean government, through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to modernize its national retail payment system as the Kingdom gets ready to trade in the Asean Economic Community. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/25854/nbc-modernizes-payment-system/
Khmer specialized bank opens
Khmer Specialized Bank, a subsidiary of Khmer Holding Group, was officially inaugurated to offer financial services to Cambodians yesterday, with $21 million worth of investment capital and becoming the 13th specialized bank in Cambodia. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/25178/khmer-specialized-bank-opens/
Gov’t calls for microfinance NGOs to register with NBC
A government official lambasted the slow application rate for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate as microfinance lenders, urging them to register with the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC). ...
Kali Kotoski and Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/govt-calls-microfinance-ngos-register-nbc
National bank to receive support from IFC
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) yesterday in a move that officials are predicting will usher in a new era of responsible corporate governing practices, transparency, financial risk management and public confidence in the ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24858/national-bank-to-receive-support-from-ifc/
Riel fund transfers to expand under FAST system
Two weeks since the central bank launched its FAST system, which provides instant riel-denominated fund transfers between banking institutions, operations are running smoothly, with usage of the new electronic payment system expected to pick up as it integrates more customers. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/riel-fund-transfers-expand-under-fast-system
Central Bank to put focus on MFIs
“The Microfinance Sector in Cambodia: Opportunities and Risks” is an attempt to get a wider view and deeper insight from various researchers on fostering a robust, stable and sustainable microfinance sector, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) said in a statement yesterday. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24373/central-bank-to-put-focus-on-mfis/
NBC reveals interbank fund payment service
The National Bank of Cambodia will launch a new payment system to increase inter bank activity in a move to shore up confidence in the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding banking sector, it said in a press release yesterday. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/nbc-reveals-interbank-fund-payment-service
National bank ups cash reserve requirements
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has doubled the minimum capital requirements for commercial banks and significantly raised the requirements for microfinance institutions in a move experts say will protect and consolidate the country’s banking sector. ...
Kang Sothear and Tej Parikh
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/national-bank-ups-cash-reserve-requirements-110398/
Central bank pushes use of national currency on anniversary
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) marked the 36th anniversary of its reintroduction of the national currency on Sunday, using the event to continue its calls to boost use of the riel in a highly dollarized economy. ...
Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/central-bank-pushes-use-of-national-currency-on-anniversary-110161/
IDs are not ‘sufficient guarantee’ for loans
Cambodia’s central bank has asked all financial institutions, especially rural lenders, to refrain from accepting personal identity cards, residential records and family books as a guarantee while giving out loans to consumers. ...
Sor Chandara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ids-are-not-sufficient-guarantee-loans
Cambodia’s new casino bill faces likely delay: report
A bill to regulate the management of Cambodia’s casino industry could be approved by the country’s National Assembly (pictured) in the first quarter of 2016, reported the Khmer Times newspaper, quoting an official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. ...
GGRAsia News Staff
http://www.ggrasia.com/cambodias-new-casino-bill-faces-likely-delay-report/
Kingdom unfazed by Fed rate hike
A day after the US Federal Reserve increased interest rates, which can potentially impact incoming investments and make debt more costly, experts say the Kingdom’s strong underlying growth will help maintain investments flows and leave the country largely unaffected.The Fed’s 25 basis point rate hike ...
Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/kingdom-unfazed-fed-rate-hike
Credit growth poses economic risk, IMF warns
Rapid credit growth – increasingly financed by bank flows from abroad – poses significant risk to Cambodia’s economy and requires prudential policies to cool lending and reduce exposure, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in a report released yesterday. It said while Cambodia’s short-term economic ...
Cam McGrath
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/credit-growth-poses-economic-risk-imf-warns
Major surge in micro lending, association says
Lending by microfinance institutions (MFIs) rose about 50 percent at an annualized rate during the first nine months of the year, according to the Cambodia Microfinance Association, which said the surge was sparked by economic stability and an increase in demand from clients wanting to ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17497/major-surge-in-micro-lending--association-says/
Central bank moves to spark Interbank lending
The National Bank of Cambodia has decreased the minimum value of negotiable certificates of deposit (NCDs) in a bid to promote interbank lending in the Kingdom’s crowded financial industry. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17371/central-bank-moves-to-spark-interbank-lending/
Central bank takes breather as it reins in rural lenders
Cambodia’s central bank will temporarily suspend its eight-month campaign to bring informal moneylenders into its fold as it lacks the resources to review the mountain of registration applications it has received and needs time to tweak the licensing requirements, a National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) ...
Sor Chandara and Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/central-bank-takes-breather-it-reins-rural-lenders