What happened almost immediately after the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia?
Almost immediately after taking power, the Khmer Rouge evacuated Phnom Penh’s 2.5 million residents. Former civil servants, doctors, teachers and other professionals were stripped of their possessions and forced to toil in the fields as part of a re-education process.
How did the Cambodian genocide affect the economy?
Increasing budgetary expenditures, skyrocketing inflation, shrinking export earnings, and a rising balance-of-payments deficit plagued the war-torn economy. The war’s most damaging effect was on rice production. In 1972 Cambodia needed to import rice (from Japan and from Thailand) for the first time since independence.
What happened during the Khmer Rouge?
To fulfill its goals, the Khmer Rouge emptied the cities and forced Cambodians to relocate to labor camps in the countryside, where mass executions, forced labor, physical abuse, malnutrition, and disease were rampant. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea.
How did the Khmer Rouge affect Cambodia’s economy?
After the Khmer Rouge came to power it took control of all businesses and farms. Money, private property and private businesses were abolished; markets were closed. The central bank in Phnom Penh was blown up as part of their effort to create a cashless society.
How is Cambodia economy?
Driven by garment exports and tourism, Cambodia’s economy has sustained an average annual growth rate of 7.7 percent between 1998 and 2019, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.