Building trust vital for financial inclusion in Cambodia: central bank official

• Jul 25, 2022

Building trust is essential to increase financial inclusion in Cambodia, while increasing client protection is a priority under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy for long-term market sustainability, a central bank senior official said here on Friday.

Kith Sovannarith, Deputy Director General of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC)’s supervisory sector, made the remarks while witnessing a signing ceremony at the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) office building here.

“Building trust on formal financial services remains crucial to increase financial inclusion in Cambodia and ensure the stability of the whole banking system while customer protection is the priority for all stakeholders,” he said.

Cambodia currently has 56 commercial banks, 11 specialized banks, and dozens of microfinance institutions, with a total of 2,600 headquarters and branches as well as 3,512 automated teller machines (ATMs) throughout the country, according to the NBC.

With a population of 16 million, there are 12.1 million deposit accounts and 3.3 million credit accounts at the country’s banks and microfinance institutions, the NBC said.

By March 2022, banking and financial institutions had provided loans to the private sector in a total amount of 50.7 billion U.S. dollars, up 22.4 percent compared to March 2021, the NBC said, adding that loans had been given to construction, wholesale and retail trade, services, agriculture, and manufacturing, among others. Xinhua

Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501117906/building-trust-vital-for-financial-inclusion-in-cambodia-central-bank-official/