PHNOM PENH, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government has announced its ninth round of relief measures to support businesses and the poor as the Southeast Asian nation grapples with rising COVID-19 infections.
In its statement released to the media on Wednesday, the government said garment, airline, tourism-related businesses such as hotels and restaurants still heavily suffer from the COVID-19 crisis.
"Moreover, all of the people, especially the poor and vulnerable ones, are still facing difficulties in their daily livelihood," the statement said.
To keep businesses afloat and to stimulate economic growth, the government decided to extend tax holidays for tourism-related businesses and airline firms for another three months from July to September this year, it added.
Also, the government would continue providing cash reliefs to nearly 700,000 poor and vulnerable families for another three months from July to September, the statement said.
Besides, 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.
Cambodia has been enduring the third wave of COVID-19 community transmission since Feb. 20. In a bid to flatten the infection curve, the kingdom has shut down all schools, fitness centers, museums, cinemas and entertainment venues nationwide.
The kingdom confirmed 1,130 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, pushing the national caseload to 50,385, the health ministry said, adding that 27 new fatalities were recorded, taking the overall death toll to 602.
The country began a COVID-19 vaccination drive on Feb. 10, with China being the key vaccine supplier.
As of June 29, some 7.09 million vaccines had been administered in the kingdom, with 4.1 million people receiving their first dose and 2.99 million having completed the two-dose inoculation, according to health ministry's secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine.
The kingdom is targeting to inoculate at least 10 million of its 16 million population by the end of this year. Enditem
