It has been two years since CGCC launched Cambodia’s first-ever public credit guarantee scheme on 29 March 2021 – the Business Recovery Guarantee Scheme (BRGS) – when Cambodia was at the peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Shortly after the launch, Cambodia experienced a 3-week lockdown on 8 April 2021. In that situation, the credit guarantee was more needed than ever when potential businesses struggled to access the required capital to stand on their feet. Two more schemes were then introduced: Co-financing Guarantee Scheme (CFGS) and the Women Entrepreneurs Guarantee Scheme (WEGS) to support businesses. The BRGS, CFGS, and WEGS are regarded as the Individual Guarantee Scheme (IGS), which means the PFI shall seek guarantee approval from CGCC on a piecemeal basis before each guaranteed loan disbursement.

On 1 January 2023, CGCC hit a new milestone by introducing the Portfolio Guarantee Scheme (PGS) after approval was granted by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Finance. PGS is a scheme under which guaranteed loan criteria are pre-agreed by CGCC and PFI to enable the PFI to enroll multiple loans in PGS without having to get CGCC’s guarantee approval on each loan prior to loan disbursement. As such, PGS enables quicker outreach and turnaround time than the previous Individual Guarantee Schemes (IGS).

Read More: Understanding CGCC Portfolio Guarantee Scheme