The CSO Budget Working Group (CSO BWG), a coalition of civil society organizations dedicated to promoting open budgeting, accountability, and oversight, has conducted an analysis and developed a joint position paper on the 2024 Law on Finance for Management, commonly known as the National Budget Law. This budget analysis aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the government's annual budget, offering valuable inputs and key recommendations to the Royal Government of Cambodia. The initiative seeks to improve fiscal policies to better address public needs while simultaneously enhancing transparency and accountability in budget management.
The 2025 National Budget analysis focuses on revenues, expenditures, public debts, unexpected costs, and budget allocations across key sectors such as education, health, and social protection. Utilizing a desk review and comparative analysis of state budget laws, international benchmarks, and best practices, it evaluates resource mobilization, allocation, and execution. The analysis uses the exchange rate from the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (2025–2027) to convert Riel to USD.
The findings aim to highlight achievements, address shortcomings, and provide recommendations to enhance budget transparency, accountability, public participation, and oversight in Cambodia. The adoption of the new Law on Public Finance System and the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) 2025–2027 marks significant progress in public finance management and national budget formulation. Since 2024, these pivotal legal frameworks have set the stage for enhanced transparency and accountability in Cambodia's fiscal policies.
In 2025, the absence of an executive summary on the draft law, previously disclosed alongside the draft, poses a significant challenge to budget transparency. This summary traditionally highlights key economic growth indicators and outlines government commitments for budget allocation, serving as a crucial pre-budget document. Its omission undermines the availability of essential information required for transparent and accountable fiscal planning.
Analysis and Recommendations on the 2025 National Budget Law for 2026 Budget Law and onward [English Version]
Overview of 2025 State Budget: The Law on Finance for Management 2025, consisting of six chapters and 15 articles, aims to ensure state sustainability and implement key policy priorities aligned with Cambodia's Pentagon Strategy.1 Despite economic challenges, the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) 2025-2027 projects a GDP growth of 6.3% in 2025, with GDP reaching 209,163 billion Riel (USD 51.398 billion)2 , significantly higher than the 2024 estimate of 142,957 billion Riel (USD 35.167 billion).3 The 2025 national budget allocates 37,950,385 million Riel (USD 9.327 billion) for state expenditures, a 2.26% increase from 2024. This budget represents 18.14% of GDP, with 69% allocated for current expenditures (26,054,019 million Riel or USD 6.403 billion) and 31% for capital expenditures (11,896,366 million Riel or USD 2.924 billion), maintaining a similar expenditure ratio to 2024. The 2025 budget reflects Cambodia's continued struggle with internal and external economic challenges, including the lingering effects of global conflicts and a slowdown in key sectors like tourism, real estate, and textiles.
