Since its establishment in 2006, the National Budget Projecthas been analyzing the National Budget and the availability of public information throughout the National Budget Process. In its engagement with the Royal Government and its development partners, the project has consistently advocated for more transparency throughout the budget process and better alignment of the Cambodian budget with the priorities outlined in the National Strategic Development Plan. Please refer to the sections on budget transparency and budget analysis for more information on our work.
What is the National Budget?
The National Budget is a statement of government’s planned receipts and expenditures and allows the government to determine whether it has enough money coming in to meet its expenses. The National Budget gives authority to the Executive to collect revenues and spend this in order to achieve government’s objectives such as poverty reduction and economic development. The budget is the most important instrument of the government to carry out its policies and affects our everyday lives and the future of our society. Decisions on budgeting have an impact on all economic and social activities, ranging from the place we live, the place we work, the means of transport we use, the healthcare and education we can access, and the safety, sanitation and utilities we can enjoy.
In Cambodia, the National Budget is prepared every year for implementation during the next calendar year (which coincides with the fiscal year). The National Budget is prepared by the government and needs to be approved by the National Assembly and the Senate before implementation. After receiving legislative approval, the National Budget becomes law. A picture of the process for preparing the national budget can be found at the bottom of this page, please refer to the “Guide to the National Budget” in the publications section for a more comprehensive description of the budget process in Cambodia as well as for an overview of trends and a glossary of terms that are often used in discussion on the national budget.
The Cambodian National Budget is mainly governed by the Law on Public Finance System (2008) with article 1 states that ‘The Law on Public Finance System aims at setting fundamental principles to manage overall public financial system and to develop the Law on Finance (annual Budget Law), especially each step of budget preparation, adoption and implementation, review of budget performance,…’. This law also paves the way for further improvements in transparency in our National Budget in the near future as Article 84 states that: ‘…all records of revenues and expenditures of national and sub-national administrations shall comply with chart of accounts and budget nomenclature, all accounting and financial reports must be transparent and publicly disclosed’.
The National Budget is devided into groups and/or categories, and classified according to Chapter, Account and Sub-account. To see what their elements are, please see the MEF's Prakas 1448.
