2014 Draft Budget Reaches Assembly, Still Under Wraps
The National Assembly’s 12-member permanent committee will take its first look at the country’s $3.54 billion draft budget for 2014 on Monday, though officials are still refusing to offer a breakdown of how the money will be spent. The draft, which allocates more than $400 million more than this year’s budget, was passed by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet on October 25 and reached the Assembly on Sunday, CPP spokesman and Assembly finance committee chair Cheam Yeap said. ... To date, only the Education Ministry has revealed its proposed share of the budget, at $335 million. Mr. Yeap would not reveal any additional details about the budget Monday, but highlighted the government’s four priorities: human resources, vocational training, infrastructure and trade. He would not elaborate. Despite the professed commitment to human resources and vocational training, the proposed education budget still comes in at less than 2 percent of the country’s $17.2 billion gross domestic product for 2014 as projected by the World Bank, and which is still well below what experts and even Education Ministry officials say it should be. Mr. Yeap said much of the additional spending proposed for 2014 would go toward recovery efforts after this year’s heavy flooding. ... The CNRP says the Assembly is illegitimate without its lawmakers and cannot legally pass any laws until they join.
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/2014-draft-budget-reaches-assembly-still-under-wraps-46514/
