Cambodia announces 10th round of relief measures to support pandemic-hit businesses

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government on Thursday unveiled its 10th round of relief measures to assist COVID-19-hit businesses as the Southeast Asian nation still grapples with the pandemic.

In its statement, the government said garment, airline, and tourism-related businesses such as hotels and restaurants still suffer from the impact of the pandemic.

"The 10th round of relief measures aims to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 crisis on social and economic sectors as well as to support and restore businesses in the context of the gradual recovery of social and economic activities in the new normal," the statement said.

To keep businesses afloat and to stimulate economic growth, the government decided to extend tax holidays for airline companies and tourism-related businesses for another three months from October to December, 2021, it said.

Also, unemployed workers in garment, footwear and travel goods sectors would continue receiving 40 U.S. dollars from the government and 30 dollars from the suspended factory per month for another three months, while the jobless in tourism would receive 40 dollars a month from the government for the same period, it added.

Last week, the government also announced to continue providing cash assistance to nearly 700,000 families hit by COVID-19 for another three months from October to December.

Cambodia confirmed 109 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, pushing the national caseload to 118,220, the health ministry said, adding that eight new fatalities were recorded, taking the overall death toll to 2,766.

Additional 272 patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 114,063, the health ministry said.