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| Cambodian Securities Exchange Director General Hong Sok Hour demonstrates how a stock market works to visitors and journalists during the inauguration ceremony of the Cambodia Securities Exchange at the Canadia Tower in Phnom Penh July 11, 2011. (Reuters) |
July 29, 2011
By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Cambodia, one of Asia’s fastest-developing frontier economies, is gradually letting go of the U.S. dollar’s hand in favor of its own currency, the riel — and some investors welcome the shift.
The Asian Development Bank predicted Cambodia will grow 6.5% in 2011, as textile and garment industries boom in a country that spent decades of the past century ravaged by civil war. According to the ADB, 90% of currency in circulation is the greenback — which is not the most popular world currency at the moment. Read more on dollar, currencies.
“The U.S. dollar is losing its credibility from the reckless ‘quantitative easing’ programs of the U.S. Federal Reserve. It is becoming unsafe for Cambodia to delegate its monetary policy to the bankrupt U.S., which hopes to inflate its way out of its recession and huge debts,” said Douglas Clayton, managing partner of frontier markets investor Leopard Capital.
Leopard Capital already has $34 million equity fund investing in the country, and is launching a $75 million find aimed at Cambodia and neighboring Laos.
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