Second Cambodia Growth and Resilience Development Policy Financing

The development objective of Second Cambodia Growth and Resilience Development Policy Financing is to: i) boost growth through a more competitive environment for the private sector; ii) strengthen fiscal resilience; and iii) enhance social and environmental resilience. This operation is the second in a programmatic series of two operations. It is structured around three pillars. The first pillar helps create an environment in which firms can enter, exit, and compete fairly. The second pillar helps enhance fiscal resilience over the medium term by controlling spending on public pensions, enhancing efficiency and mitigating the associated fiscal risks of capital expenditures and PPPs, and strengthening the RGC’s capacity to raise financing through sovereign bond issuance. The third pillar improves social and environmental resilience by institutionalizing shock-responsive social protection, improving disaster risk management, expanding carbon markets, improving energy efficiency and improving payments delivery. With its reorientation to medium-term growth and reform, the proposed operation also supports the WBG’s extensive and deep engagement in Cambodia as outlined in the World Bank Group (WBG)’s Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for 2019–2024. This program is aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement and Cambodia’s pathway towards low GHG emissions and climate-resilient development.