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The family took a microfinance loan of $15,000 in 2018 to build a new house and buy a new motorbike among other things. Her repayments amounted about $350 per month schedule over six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we are asking for three months exemption from the bank, but we have yet to receive a reply. I don\u2019t know whether they will agree or not for our request of an interest-only rate repayment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
About 15 kilometer from the province city centre, the village has seen a lot of progress. The villagers now can access electricity and clean water while big new-built brick and wooden houses are emerging to replace the old small dwellings.<\/p>\n
Currently most families in the countryside depend entirely on their children who work for garment factories. Capital Cambodia interviewed a lot of families who have been affected in the village and the same issue is debt burden.<\/p>\n
25-year old, Chim Sreynich, is another suspended garment worker in the village. She and her husband have been suspended since early April.<\/p>\n
Sreynich, who is now four months pregnant, had been working as a garment worker for about seven years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe factory I worked for didn\u2019t close but they just laid-off about a half of the workers. I and my husband were on the list for suspension,\u201d she said. \u201cNow we haven\u2019t had an income for about two months. Ee don\u2019t have money to pay off our loan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sreynich along with her husband is like other suspended workers in the village. She is seeking a microfinance loan to temporary exempt repayments for a period of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have called to the bank asking for help and they promised to see us this May, so I am just waiting to see if they could provide some exemption,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sreynich and her husband earned a combined $500 and $600 depending on overtime per month. She needs to pay $350 per month of the loan to the bank from which she borrowed $15,000 for six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey lent it to us because we were working in a garment factory. Now I could not work somewhere else. my husband can get a job as a construction worker periodically but it is not regular pay. He sometime can just work for only a week and earn around $50,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The pandemic has caused hundreds of factories to suspend operations or close, affected millions of households.<\/p>\n
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) in March, issued a directive to all banks and financial institutions to restructure loans in order to maintain financial stability, support economic activity and ease the burden of debtors facing major revenue declines who may find it difficult to repay loans during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.<\/p>\n
Late inApril, the NBC requested financial institutions to reduce credit-related fees and lift fines until the end of December 2020.<\/p>\n
Say Sony, senior vice-president and chief marketing management of PRASAC MFI said that it is one of the leading MFIs making strong efforts to support customers affected by COVID-19.<\/p>\n
He said so far there are few clients requesting to reschedule loans because they have no income from their business during this period, especially clients in priority sectors.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo respond to clients\u2019 requests, we assess their situation and discuss with them in order to find appropriate solutions and acceptable to both parties,\u201d he said, adding that to keep growing together for those clients who are not affected or slightly affected, and are able to pay their debt, they are required to pay as normal. \u201cSo that we can use this opportunity to help the most affected clients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Say, the most affected people are in Siem Reap province, where many tourism-based businesses closed down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been implementing and solving the issues based on their internal principal, based on the type of customers, the impact on and theactual situation for each customer by aligning them with guidelines from the National Bank of Cambodia,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
According to GMAC, nearly 200 factories have suspended operations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting 200,000 workers.<\/p>\n
The government has announced a $40 incentive per month for workers and staff in the tourism sector who are laid off from their job because if the pandemic. It\u2019s asking the companies to subsubise a further $30.<\/p>\n
Heng Sour, the Ministry of Labour\u2019s spokesmen said that, workers who are in the official suspension list by after labour inspection after Khmer New Year will receive the assistance cash without attending special training. However, those whowerere in the official suspension list by the labour inspector before Khmer New Year must fulfill soft-skill training.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly those who have registered with theGeneral Department of Taxation (GDT) can apply for this and the only those who legally register are eligible for assistance,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Labour Ministry last week, launched training for more than 400 suspended garment workers of the Broadland Cambodia Garment Industries in the capital\u2019s Meanchey district.<\/p>\n
Chim Sreynich said that she was informed to get the government\u2019s assistance of $40 and $30 from her factory per month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have received anf of the money yet and they told me that the money will be sent via myWing account next month,\u201d she said. \u201cWith this amount, we can\u2019t even pay the interest rate but it\u2019ss better than nothing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The pandemic has caused hundreds of factories to suspend operations or close, affected millions of households.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[786,820],"yoast_head":"\n