Cambodia’s Public Debt
According to the [inter]national Monetary Fund (IMF), at the end of 2011, the stock of Cambodia’s external public debt, including arrears, stood at around US 3.8 billion or 30 percent of GDP (24 percent in NPV terms). … China remains the largest bilateral creditor, contributing to 40 percent of the total bilateral debt stock and 80 percent of bilateral debt disbursement during the past two years. In 1995, Cambodia concluded Paris Club agreements with France, Germany, Italy and Japan. However, Cambodia remains in arrears to the Russian Federation and the United States (about 20 percent of total debt or 6 percent of GDP) and the status of negotiations of these negotiations of these arrears has remained unchanged since the last DSA. … Cambodia has virtually no domestic public debt. In early 2012, Cambodia adopted a new debt management strategy, aimed at managing debt risk, coordinating and implementing debt management policies, and developing debt management capacity. … Despite the recent increase in global food prices, inflation would stay at 3-4 percent during 2012-13. … The current account deficit including official transfers is projected to peak at 10 percent of GDP in 2012, reflecting moderating exports and large imports related to the power generation projects, but this deficit remains fully financed by FDI and official loans. … The authorities also reiterated that new borrowing would be prioritized for investment sectors with high growth and social impact (e.g., roads bridges, ports and irrigation), and they would continue to monitor the concessionality of new loans.
