Source: khmertimeskh

Cambodia needs more than $5.41 billion for its three-year public investment plan, a government report says.

The plan involves 586 projects which include the social sector, economic development, public infrastructure and the public service, the report said.

It said $537 million would come from the government and $2.9 billion from development partners.

The government is seeking another $1.97 billion to meet the shortfall.

Government officials were not available for comment. But a report by the Planning Ministry said the social sector shared 15.3 percent of the total investment plan, while 44 percent would go to the economic sector, 26.9 percent would be spent for physical infrastructure and 13.8 percent would support the public service and related fields.

The report also said that for the three-year investment program, 166 projects were to be implemented at a cost of more than $2.49 billion.

Another 240 projects to be implemented for the national strategic development plan needed more than $2.92 billion.

The government report also detailed that for 2017 alone it needed more than $1.91 billion for projects to be implemented. It needed more than $1.78 billion for next year and in 2019, it needed more than $1.71 billion.

The draft plan of the three-year investment programme will be discussed by the inter-ministerial meeting on Wednesday and Thursday at the Council of Ministers.

The report also provided macro-economic indicators with seven percent GDP per annum from 2017 to 2019 and a forecast 7.1 percent in 2020.

The country’s GDP value is said to be more than $22.09 billion this year. It is expected to be more than $24.45 billion next year. It is expected to reach more than $27.02 billion in 2019 and more than $29.91 billion in 2020.

GDP per capita is expected to reach $1,861 in 2020 from $1,709 in 2018. It is expected to be $1,567 for next year, from $1,434 in 2017.

The inflation rate is expected to be about 3.8 percent in 2017. It is expected to be 3.5 percent next year, 3.3 percent in 2019 and 3.4 percent in 2020.