Nearly 30 percent of Cambodians borrow money, CBC says
Nearly 30 percent of Cambodians borrow money, CBC says
Some 5.02 million Cambodians or 29.5 percent of the total 17 million population, borrowed money from banks and financial institutions as of the first semester of this year, a Credit Bureau Cambodia (CBC) report said.
People took loans from 195 financial institutions including banks that are members of CBC, read the report.
CBC also recorded the generation of 3.37 million credit reports. Of this, 2.18 million credit reports were generated on the request of banks, 1.12 million from micro finance institutions (MFIs), and the rest from other financial providers.
Launched in 2012, CBC is a provider of financial information, analytical solutions and credit reporting services to financial institutions and consumers in Cambodia.
Cambodia’s banking and financial industry continued to enjoy healthy growth in both loans and deposits in the first half of 2024. Outstanding loans rose by 13.8 percent year on year to $58.9 billion by June this year, while customers’ deposits increased by 6.4 percent to $51.9 billion, an NBC report showed.
The loans had been given to main sectors such as trade, housing, construction and real estate, agriculture, hotels and restaurants, and manufacturing, among others, it said.
Chea Serey, Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, has asked Cambodians to be prudential in their borrowing from banks and other institutions.
“Borrowing money is not always bad. If we borrow money to run businesses to earn income and pay back on time to lenders, that is a good thing. But if we borrow money to use for a wrong purpose, it is wrong,” Serey said recently.
An NBC report showed that the Kingdom currently has 59 commercial banks, nine specialized banks and 86 microfinance institutions with a total of 2,614 headquarters and branches as well as 3,998 automated teller machines (ATMs) throughout the country.
CBC signed in May a memorandum of understanding with Korea Credit Bureau and Jeonbuk Bank to seek mutual collaboration in establishing cross-border credit report sharing between Cambodia and South Korea.
More than 50,000 Cambodians are estimated to be living in Korea, while over 10,000 Korean individuals reside in Cambodia. The collaboration will eliminate the lack of credit history among them.
