Proposed changes to reserve requirement meets controversy
A proposed increase in the reserve requirement would decrease lending and slow Cambodia’s economic growth, according to some bankers and experts. The National Bank of Cambodia is set to hold a meeting later this month discussing a possible raise of the reserve requirement from 12 percent at present to 16 percent, seeking to rein in inflation which NBC officials have said could hit 9 percent this year. The reserve requirement sets the amount of capital commercial banks must hold rather than lend out, and raising the rate would lower the amount banks are able to lend to customers.
