Cambodia’s Costs and Benefits from Weak Dollar (Cambodian Economic Association, Nov 15, 2010) (Also on Phnom Penh Post Nov 10, 2010)
Some may have been a bit happy and proud that the Riel appreciated a bit against dollar. Wait. What is going on? Does Cambodia benefit or lose from this?
Last week, the U.S Fed announced that it would inject an extra 600$billion into the U.S banking system. This latest move has been dubbed QE2 as it follows the Fed’s decision to pump 1.75$trillion into the economy during the downturn in its first round of quantitative easing. Washington’ economic stimulus policies to create more money can and will have spill-over effects, both negative and positive, on Cambodia. Read More.
Competition for Banks helps Growth. (Phnom Penh Post, October 12, 2010)
By Heng Dyna
When Cambodian Public Bank (Campu Bank) announced that it would offer 6 percent annual interest on loans, other leading bankers expressed their concerns that the new offer would undercut market rates and raise the possibility of a credit war. Competition is generally a good thing, but is it really the case in the banking industry? Read More
Proper Framework Vital for the New Stock Market, (Phnom Penh Post. September 27, 2010)
By Heng Dyna
The establishment of a bourse in Cambodia is expected to promote domestic savings and enhance the functions of our financial system, thus increasing the quantity and quality of investment. But will the stock market play an important role in allocating capital to our economic activity and industry?
The answer will depend much on the progress of our economic and institutional fundamentals: sound macroeconomic environment, healthy and developed banking sector, the transparency and accountability of our institutions, and shareholder protection. Read More.
Today Determines Tomorrow (Cambodia daily, July 17-18, 2010: “Debates, not banning books, will improve society”.
By Heng Dyna
Where countries are today affects where they can go. Cambodia’s future and its development capacity in the coming decades depend what this country does today to promote the intellectual ability, critical thinking, talent and skills of its people. Thus, our journey to the next stage of development is to promote intellectual prowess and innovative thought
The latest government’s action to ban the textbooks should be much discussed. Here, I am writing to suggest that the government can do better than this by engaging intellectual challenges and providing more balanced answers of the government version to the author’s questions. Then, let Cambodian students choose what to believe. Read more.
Promoting Large Scale Farming Won’t Alleviate Cambodia’s Poverty. (Cambodia Daily.) April 24-25, 2010)
By Dyna heng
Over 90 per cent of Cambodia’s poor lives in rural areas. The majority of them is engaged in agriculture and can save little. Meanwhile, a large part of the Cambodian labor force still remains in the agricultural sector. How can Cambodia turn its agriculture sector into a driver of economic growth and spread development to these people?
The land deals with foreign and local companies in recent years are for big agricultural projects such as big farms and agro-industrial plantations. This seems to promote big farm-led agricultural growth, which is claimed by investors to create jobs and thus alleviate poverty. Read more…
