AmCham Daily Newswire

PM meets with IMF representatives

Summary: During a meeting with PM J. Erdenebat yesterday, Dr. Koshi Mathai from IMF’S Asia and Pacific Department noted that the new Cabinet is on the right path to economic recovery by informing the public of the reality of the country’s financial situation and by consolidating the budget. He underlined that the USD rate is going up due to the withdrawal limitations set by commercial banks resulting in the public having excess cash on hand. The IMF representatives added that they are willing to send a professional working group to assist with the economic decline if Mongolia needs further support. The PM said the Minister of Finance conducted a comprehensive report on the economic situation because the Mongolian people were not fully aware of the true status of the economy. Usually in August, the USD rate goes up, however, this year it has increased way more than expected and is bringing a heavy burden on businesses and individuals with USD loans. The PM also discussed the Cabinet’s future plan regarding the USD exchange rate and additional policy actions of the Bank of Mongolia with the IMF delegation.

Keywords: economic decline, IMF Today /pages A2/

The DP to make a structural transformation

Summary: The DP is planning many changes in the framework of their “reformation” process. A Reformation Group that was appointed to work on making changes to the DP announced that they plan to revise the party’s legal regulations, internal rules, and process for accountability. To achieve greater results, the group believes the National Consulting Committee members need some ‘fresh’ fill-ins. Additionally, insiders note that the DP members are planning to discharge everyone who participated in the dismissal of the former Prime Minister N. Altankhuyag’s Cabinet. All these matters, including the election of the new Chair of the DP, will be discussed during the National Consulting Committee taking place on August 25^th.

Keywords: election, government stability The Century News /pages 2/

Monetary interest rate is increased by 4.5 points

Summary: During a meeting yesterday, the Monetary Policy Council of the Bank of Mongolia made the decision to increase the monetary interest rate by 4.5 points to a record high of 15%. Initially on May 5^th, the Monetary Policy Council decreased the monetary interest rate from 13% to 10.5%, citing that it will support domestic and foreign direct investments. The Monetary Policy Council explained that although the inflation rate is still low, the MNT rate has depreciated by 7.9% against the USD in a very short amount of time. By raising the monetary interest rate to 15%, the Bank of Mongolia will start paying a 15% interest rate to commercial banks. Therefore, the commercial banks will avoid issuing high-risk loans to the public and will prefer to cooperate with the Bank of Mongolia, resulting in decreasing the supply of money in the market. The Council noted that they are focusing on increasing the return on MNT assets to protect the value of the MNT.

Keywords: monetary policy, economic recession The National Post /page 1/

MP Ts. Nyamdorj asks the PM to stop construction in state protected areas

Summary: MP Ts. Nyamdorj wrote an official letter to the PM regarding construction in state protected areas. In the letter, the MP stated that the construction work started in the state protected area of Ikh Tenger, citing ASEM as their reason. However, ASEM has ended and the construction work continues today. MP Ts. Nyamdorj suspects that someone might have used ASEM as an excuse to construct buildings in state protected areas for their personal gain. Therefore, he asked the PM to check and report if it is the case of someone abusing his or her authority for personal gain and laundering land from the state.

Keywords: infrastructure, law enforcement www.medee.mn