Inflation and Floods Cash Transfers to Support over One Million People

People walk through floodwaters on the outskirts of Phnom Penh on October 17, 2020. Photo by AFP / TANG CHHIN Sothy

PHNOM PENH – Dual cash transfer program’s first phase was launched on Dec. 10 to aid more than 350,000 households that have been financially impacted by floods or are vulnerable to the growing inflationary pressure. The financial support is believed to reach at least 1.3 million people.



The government’s program aims to help vulnerable people who are affected by floods and inflation – due to the Russia-Ukraine war – in three phases: While the first phase was launched on Dec. 10, the second phase will start on April 10 and the third on July 10, 2023.



For phase one, cash will be transferred on a monthly basis, until February 2023, through Wing agencies.



However, the campaign to identify the households at risk has not ended with these 350,000 households and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation will continue the evaluation for the next phases, said on Dec. 10 Samheng Boros, one of the ministry’s secretaries of state, in a press conference that unveiled the mechanisms and procedures of the cash transfer program for vulnerable households.



The program to tackle the financial effects of inflation was announced on Dec. 3 together with another cash transfer to support households that have been affected by heavy floods in October and November.



In regards to the cash assistance to tackle growing inflation, each criteria-matching household in Phnom Penh will receive 99,900 riels (nearly $25), with an additional 28,000 riels (around $7) for each member of the household. Those in other urban areas will receive 87,300 riels (about $21), with an additional 24,000 riels (about $5.8) for each member; and those in rural areas will receive 81,300 riels (around $19.8), with an additional 20,000 riels (about $5) for each household member.



As for the people severely affected by floods, the program is displayed in the capital city and across 15 provinces. Those include Kandal, Takeo, Pursat, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham, Thbong Khmum, Kratie, Kampong Chhnang, Prey Veng, Kampot, Svay Rieng, and Oddar Meanchey.



Each poor household will receive 80,000 riels (about $20), and will get an additional 16,000 riels (around $4) for every disabled person, children from 0 to 5 years old, and people over 60 years old, who live under their roof.



Prime Minister Hun Sen encouraged the people who match the criteria to register for the program from the date of the launch, onward, until February 2023.



Every household living near the poverty line (which has been set at 10,951 riels per person per day) is eligible for the dual cash transfer program, as soon as it meets one of the following five vulnerabilities defined beforehand by the government:



A household will be considered vulnerable if it is home to a disabled person, has one child under 2 years old, elders older than 60 years old, if a woman is the only breadwinner and is living without a husband, and if there are no members between 19 and 59 years old.



Inflation hit a 13-year high



According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, when households are eligible to receive both financial supports, the transfer will be done in two steps.



The financial compensation for flooding will be transferred first, while the inflationary-relief aid will be delivered in the second or third phase of the dual cash transfer program.



Nevertheless, poor and vulnerable households that already receive cash assistance under the special scheme set up to tackle the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will not receive the funding for this program, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s announcement.



According to a World Bank report released on Dec. 7, inflation hit 7.8 percent in June, marking a 13-year high after years of average inflation of 4 percent.



Soaring prices are due to the global rise in oil and food prices consequently to the prolonged war between Russia and Ukraine.



The dual cash transfer program has been established to ease the hardship of the vulnerable and poor citizens affected by not only the inflationary pressures but also by floods, especially in rural areas, where the most precarious populations live.



From 2009 to 2019, the national poverty rate decreased from 33.8 to 17.8 percent, the World Bank’s report said on Nov. 28. According to the Ministry of Planning, the poverty rate in the city was 4.2 percent, while it stood at 12.6 percent in other urban areas, and at 22.8 percent in rural areas.  



Speaking as a Hun Sen’s representative, Hun Manet, son of the prime minister and future prime ministerial candidate, said the program was established to help those households affected by floods and are living near the poverty line, backing up that the government never abandons their poor citizens.



“The government spent around $40 million per month to help poor households during the COVID-19….and the recently established cash transfer program for households vulnerable to inflationary pressure,” Manet said on Dec. 10 during the inauguration of a pagoda in Takeo province.


Related Articles