Cambodian PM warns against debt write-off camapign

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday warned politicians who are making campaigns for cancelling the debt of bank borrowers.

At the opening ceremony of a micro-finance conference, Hun Sen said that these leaders are cheating people out of ballots ahead of the upcoming elections, Xinhua news agency reported.

The prime minister said that some politicians have been launching campaigns promising to write off all debts that people owe to the banks if they gained victory in the upcoming elections.

"I'd like to call on politicians in political parties not to do such a cheap act that violates the financial regulation," he said.

"The arrest will be made on the spot, though you are lawmakers, because this is an act of committing a crime."

"It is unacceptable that they cheat people for their own political gain," he said, adding that such campaigns are dragging people into worse debts.

Hun Sen did not specifically name any political parties in his remarks.

Cambodia is gearing up for its elections in 2017 and the national election in 2018.