Touch Yuthea
The Mekong Times
A committee has been formed by NGOs and associations including the NGO Forum on Cambodia, the Economic Institute of Cambodia (EIC) and the Center for Social Development, to closely monitor government revenues and expenditures.
Cambodians for National Revenue Transparency (CNRT) has been formed amid expectations that cash-strapped Cambodia, which currently needs millions of US dollars of aid annually, will reap billions from oil, gas and other natural resources in the future.
“The NGOs have established the alliance to monitor Cambodia’s management of national incomes from oil, minerals and gas — to ensure the money is utilized effectively to serve the common interests of the Cambodian people,” Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, said on Wednesday.
EIC Director Dr. Sok Hach did not elaborate on the CNRT yesterday, but said he would wait until after the July 27 national election before giving in-depth comment.
The CNRT has joined with another existing NGO alliance, Commercial Network and Economic Development (CNED), which was created in 2007 by some 10 NGOs and associations.
The CNED aims at annually analyzing budget practices and revenue management to ascertain whether government revenues and expenditures are consistent with prioritized plans set by the National Assembly in the 2007 national budget and the 2008 budget law.
“Since its inception in 2007, the NGO alliance has noticed that our national budget, compared to 2007 and 2008, has increased. Overall, the budget packages – both the current and funding budget – have been on the rise,” said Chhith Sam Ath.
Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith welcomed the formation of the NGO alliances to monitor the distribution of national budgets, but questioned their ability.
“First, how many economists who are skilled and able to monitor national budget do the NGO alliances have?” he asked. “The establishment of the monitoring NGO alliances seems to be a slap in the face of the opposition. It implies opposition legislators are stupid and have no knowledge of how to monitor the national budget, which is why they have set up another [budget monitoring institution].”
The influx of huge oil and gas revenues into Cambodia’s economy has raised fears among NGOs that it could be struck by the ‘resource curse,’ which has seriously destabilized natural resource rich countries such as Nigeria.
Cambodians for National Revenue Transparency (CNRT) has been formed amid expectations that cash-strapped Cambodia, which currently needs millions of US dollars of aid annually, will reap billions from oil, gas and other natural resources in the future.
“The NGOs have established the alliance to monitor Cambodia’s management of national incomes from oil, minerals and gas — to ensure the money is utilized effectively to serve the common interests of the Cambodian people,” Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, said on Wednesday.
EIC Director Dr. Sok Hach did not elaborate on the CNRT yesterday, but said he would wait until after the July 27 national election before giving in-depth comment.
The CNRT has joined with another existing NGO alliance, Commercial Network and Economic Development (CNED), which was created in 2007 by some 10 NGOs and associations.
The CNED aims at annually analyzing budget practices and revenue management to ascertain whether government revenues and expenditures are consistent with prioritized plans set by the National Assembly in the 2007 national budget and the 2008 budget law.
“Since its inception in 2007, the NGO alliance has noticed that our national budget, compared to 2007 and 2008, has increased. Overall, the budget packages – both the current and funding budget – have been on the rise,” said Chhith Sam Ath.
Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith welcomed the formation of the NGO alliances to monitor the distribution of national budgets, but questioned their ability.
“First, how many economists who are skilled and able to monitor national budget do the NGO alliances have?” he asked. “The establishment of the monitoring NGO alliances seems to be a slap in the face of the opposition. It implies opposition legislators are stupid and have no knowledge of how to monitor the national budget, which is why they have set up another [budget monitoring institution].”
The influx of huge oil and gas revenues into Cambodia’s economy has raised fears among NGOs that it could be struck by the ‘resource curse,’ which has seriously destabilized natural resource rich countries such as Nigeria.
