PHNOM PENH: The National Bank of Cambodia’s (NBC) Deputy Governor Chea Serey was promoted to Governor and given the rank of senior minister by the King.

Starting at the NBC in 1999 and being promoted to Deputy Governor earlier this year, Chea Serey has made a meteoric rise since she obtained her PhD in economics in 2021. She is the daughter of former NBC Governor Chea Chanto and a member of various policy-driven committees within the central bank. Born in 1981, she was sent abroad to study at the age of eight-first in France, then in Singapore. She went on to earn a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from New Zealand at the age of 18, a master's degree in banking in 2010 and a PhD in economics from the University of Adelaide, Australia in 2021.

Some of her most prominent achievements during her short time as Deputy Governor involve promoting digital payments via agreements with China and Thailand that allow for international QR code transactions. She is also a firm proponent of increasing the use and reputation of the Riel, Cambodia’s national currency, and decreasing the use of American dollars in everyday Cambodian life. Chea Serey will be the first female governor to serve the NBC.