Walking around Phnom Penh lately, the biggest thing you notice is how prices just keep creeping up. Step out for a bowl of kuyteav in the morning, or grab an iced coffee by the roadside, and you are definitely handing over more cash than you were last month. Between dodging coughing fits from motorbike exhaust and watching fuel prices wobble up and down, it is hard to feel secure about anything. Then you walk back to your rental and see the electricity bill sitting on the table—enough to give anyone a headache.
Local media has been reporting that the cost of imported goods and basic necessities has been climbing across the board. Down at the market, stall owners slicing up beef are complaining that wholesale prices are up; if they don't raise their prices they lose money, but if they do, their regulars just shake their heads and walk away. Sit down for tea at a local stall and the conversation always circles back to the same old grind: the price of rice, oil, and salt. Everyone is tightening their belts, pinching pennies wherever they can.
When evening comes and people knock off for the day, the street food grills are blazing away, mixing the smell of roasted meat with the usual dust in the air. Watching the crowds of workers rushing back to their rental rooms on their motos, you cannot help feeling a bit heavy-hearted. Life in this humid, bustling city is a daily grind for everyone, just holding on and hoping things get a little easier, and that they can actually manage to save a bit of money.
