The objective of this study is to analyse newly available quantitative data to create new insights into fiscal space for SNA in Cambodia. Working directly with official data and close technical collaboration with the MEF, General Department of Sub- National Finance (GDSNAF), a larger and
more detailed amount of quantitative data on SNA economic and budget performance has been made available for the study.
The leading question of the study is to ascertain if the local fiscal space is adequate to meet the financing demands for;
• functional transfers,
• capital investment needs and,
• recurrent needs.
Additionally the research will examine the distributions of fiscal space and its components to understand the underlying persuasive issues that are limiting tax and non tax revenue generation. The data generated observations will support the formulation of targeted policy in an
endeavour to create the conditions for a more balanced and equitable development process applying a territorial approach.

Considering the limitations of the available data, detailed technical research developed by the World Bank related to fiscal space calculations has been adapted for the study. Although the conceptual framework for fiscal space calculations that include investment data has been
considered, this research limits the amount of variables considered. In this sense the study provides a rudimentary framework related to the notion of fiscal
space for SNAs in Cambodia.

The international literature on fiscal space analyses have been reviewed for this study. Two are worth mentioning here. One is the World Bank’s ‘A cross-country database of fiscal space’ paper (2017)1 ,and the other is the UNCDF study on fiscal space in Myanmar (2018).