Thursday, April 10, 2008By J.M. Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy continues to criticize Prime minister Hun Sen who just congratulated himself for the “good health of the Kingdom’s economy.”
J.M. (CSH): Is there anything inspiring you in the PM’s latest declarations in which he was congratulating himself about the good economic indices of the kingdom?
Sam Rainsy (SR): The numbers given by the PM reminds me of the statistical numbers published by the authorities of the former Soviet Union, 20 years ago. On paper, everything is going very well, whereas in reality, the large majority of the population still have bad living condition. This is what happens in Cambodia. The statistics are cooked up. This is the common action taken by all authoritarian regimes.
CDH: Can you give concrete examples about the cooked up statistics?
SR: Take for example the national poverty limit, in Cambodia, the government says that one person earning an income of less that $0.50 per day is living below the poverty limit. Thus, according to the government, only 33% of the population are living under the poverty limit. On the other hand, if we set this limit to $2 per day, as is done in the Philippines, then 80% of Cambodians live below the poverty limit. I don’t see any reason to cook up the number as the PM is doing right now. Another concrete example: the jobless rate. According to the official statistics, it would be only between 1 and 2%. This means that Cambodia is doing even better than the US or France. This is completely false. But here again, the government considers that a person working half an hour in the last 7 days, is considered as employed. To me, this is not a good criterion.
CDH: What do you think about the 10.1% (economic) growth rate in 2007?
SR: This number may be true. I don’t know … But for sure, this growth does not mean anything. It is neither lasting nor equitable. It only reflects the increasing disparity between a small minority of privileged people, and the huge majority of poor people. The distribution of wealth only benefits a small group of people, and it does not contribute to the well being of the population. The $6 additional pay given to the (garment) workers represents only a 12% salary raise for a base salary of $50. However, in two years, for the poorest people, price of goods increased by 100%. We are still far from a true accounting! The riel currency loses its value, that’s one of the reason why inflation and the purchasing power are affected. Our commercial balance for the garment sector is in great deficit… Our economy is weak. We depend on international aid and on the money sent over by overseas Cambodians.
J.M. (CSH): Is there anything inspiring you in the PM’s latest declarations in which he was congratulating himself about the good economic indices of the kingdom?
Sam Rainsy (SR): The numbers given by the PM reminds me of the statistical numbers published by the authorities of the former Soviet Union, 20 years ago. On paper, everything is going very well, whereas in reality, the large majority of the population still have bad living condition. This is what happens in Cambodia. The statistics are cooked up. This is the common action taken by all authoritarian regimes.
CDH: Can you give concrete examples about the cooked up statistics?
SR: Take for example the national poverty limit, in Cambodia, the government says that one person earning an income of less that $0.50 per day is living below the poverty limit. Thus, according to the government, only 33% of the population are living under the poverty limit. On the other hand, if we set this limit to $2 per day, as is done in the Philippines, then 80% of Cambodians live below the poverty limit. I don’t see any reason to cook up the number as the PM is doing right now. Another concrete example: the jobless rate. According to the official statistics, it would be only between 1 and 2%. This means that Cambodia is doing even better than the US or France. This is completely false. But here again, the government considers that a person working half an hour in the last 7 days, is considered as employed. To me, this is not a good criterion.
CDH: What do you think about the 10.1% (economic) growth rate in 2007?
SR: This number may be true. I don’t know … But for sure, this growth does not mean anything. It is neither lasting nor equitable. It only reflects the increasing disparity between a small minority of privileged people, and the huge majority of poor people. The distribution of wealth only benefits a small group of people, and it does not contribute to the well being of the population. The $6 additional pay given to the (garment) workers represents only a 12% salary raise for a base salary of $50. However, in two years, for the poorest people, price of goods increased by 100%. We are still far from a true accounting! The riel currency loses its value, that’s one of the reason why inflation and the purchasing power are affected. Our commercial balance for the garment sector is in great deficit… Our economy is weak. We depend on international aid and on the money sent over by overseas Cambodians.
