PHNOM PENH: The Cambodian government released a report detailing the cash assistance programs it introduced to help families cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet relayed the figures on his Telegram noting that the assistance benefitted nearly three million poor and vulnerable people, including pregnant people and children.

"Cambodia is not a very rich country, but the Royal Government of Cambodia is not discouraged from helping its own people," he wrote.

The PM then detailed a report sent to him by the Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, which shows government data on three cash subsidies. The report said that the program to support poor and vulnerable families during Covid-19 started on June 24, 2020 and has been running for 39 months, benefiting 437,731 households (equivalent to more than 2.7 million people) and providing a total of 4,805,801,699,000 Riels (or nearly $ 1.2 billion).

Prior to the Covid outbreak, the government instituted a program to assist pregnant people and children under two years old on June 1, 2019 to assist with pre and post-natal care. The report said the program has benefitted

339,977 women and children with a total budget of 110,401,200,000 Riels (or nearly $ 27 million). Since its introduction four years ago, former Prime Minister Hun Sen increased the benefits for pregnant people and included vaccinations for young children.

The report noted that cash subsidies for vulnerable households due to inflationary pressures were implemented on December 3, 2022, benefiting 495,119 families (equivalent to more than 1.8 million people) and totalling 173,900,021,200 Riels (or just over $ 42 million).

The PM noted that the figures only detail three cash assistance programs that the government has implemented, while the government has enforced many other policies to help Cambodians of all walks of life in all sectors across the country.