China to cancel $200 million debt owed by Cambodia

By Khmerization
Source: CEN

Cambodia's Minister of Finance Keat Chhon is expected to sign an agreement with visiting Chinese top ligislator Mr. Wu Bangguo, who is chairman of the National People' s Congress, to forfeit $200 million of debt owed by Cambodia.

Mr. Cheam Yeap, Cambodia's chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Finance, did not say why China decided to forgive the $200 million debt, by added that it was an old debt.

In the past decade, many countries and institutions had cancelled Cambodia's debt, such as Hungary and the International Monetary Fund which forgave Cambodia's $82 million debt in 2005.

Cambodia is still negotiating with the United States for the cancellation of more than $400 million debt owed by the Khmer Republican regime since the early 1970s, and Cambodia has also sought a debt cancellation of $1.5 billion dollars from Russia owed by Cambodia to the former Soviet regime in the 1980s.