PHNOM PENH – Prime Minister Hun Manet has rejected criticism of government spending surpassing revenue, saying that the situation is manageable and that increased spending has been on enhanced public services. 
In his speech on Feb. 20 at the opening of Social Security Week 2025 and the official launch of the Social Security Policy Framework 2024-2035, he agreed that the government spends more than it brings in.

However, he said the government had remained in control and gave assurances about the cash flow and capacity to support salary increases for civil servants and boost allocations for social security services.

He said an imbalance was common and Cambodia was no exception. However, Cambodia had allocated funding to support its people. Manet gave one example as a reason for the imbalance, the loss of income from government’s decision to reduce tourist visa costs by $4. 
“In some sectors, we don’t even have tax revenues. For instance, in the granite and stone slab industry, we don’t impose taxes because we want to support the private sector's growth,” he said, adding that the government was wise about public management and did not mishandle such issues.

The government approved a 2025 budget of 37,950 billion riel (approximately $9.32 billion). To cover expenditures, it plans to borrow 2 billion SDR (Special Drawing Rights), or about $2.6 billion.
Regarding 2025 government expenses, Hun Manet explained in detail that the government continues to prioritise social security service improvement, which covers the costs of supporting pregnant women, the elderly, and pensions and continues to receive full government support.

He noted that some mega projects have budgets of $60 million for improving clean water access, $50 million for road construction, and $20 million for modernizing health facilities at 61 district referral hospitals.
He spoke also about the government's increased spending on priority sectors, such as recruiting public servants for health and education, and replacing retired officials in the national defense ministry and security sectors. However, he noted that many other ministries and agencies had cut expenses.   

He said all his ministers knew the theory and practical aspects of their jobs supporting people, particularly the 7.5 million who had received social security support. 

“People who criticise can continue to do that. Those who do can continue to do,” Hun Manet said, adding that it is the government’s obligation to pursue policies to support people.