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Ulaanbaatar's state of high preparedness starts with 18 types of businesses still closed
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The Deputy Prime Minister's working group met and decided to lower the state public readiness level by one level and allow some businesses to reopen on January 11, in accordance with the government's resolution on lockdown measures. The Ulaanbaatar Special Commission had conducted a risk assessment of Ulaanbaatar's manufacturing and service sectors. Operations will resume for most businesses except those operating in 18 business sectors. Businesses engaged in the trade of non-food and non-household items, public events, nightclubs, fitness centers, hair salons, and hotels will remain closed during this level of high preparedness.
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President Kh. Battulga submits a draft resolution on supporting households with a one million MNT stimulus payment
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President Kh. Battulga submitted a draft resolution titled "Special measures to overcome livelihood, social, and economic difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic" to Speaker of Parliament G. Zandanshatar. The resolution calls for implementing relief policy and measures by providing a one million MNT voucher to each Mongolian household. According to the president's resolution, each household would receive 200,000 MNT in cash and 800,000 MNT in the form of vouchers with special conditions for purchasing domestically produced goods and products other than alcohol and tobacco. The funding would come from confiscated assets in offshore accounts held by politicians. The resolution also stated that funds confiscated from offshore zones would be deposited to a particular treasury account at the Bank of Mongolia.
The president stated that his proposal to provide financial assistance to households would also support domestic businesses during the pandemic, based on other countries' experiences in applying stimulus measures.
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2020 total foreign trade turnover reached 12.8 billion USD, 6.4 percent lower than 2019
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In 2020, Mongolia traded with 149 countries and total foreign trade turnover reached 12.8 billion USD, decreasing by 876.9 million USD (6.4 percent) compared to 2019. Net exports totaled 2.2 billion USD, yielding a positive trade balance, as reported by the General Customs Administration. Exports of goods and raw materials totaled 7.5 billion USD, down 0.6 percent from a year earlier. Trade made in foreign currency accounted for 99.4 percent of all exports, which increased by 46.8 million USD (six percent) compared to 2019. Mongolia exported goods to 75 countries, with China accounting for 72.5 percent of exports, Switzerland for 22.2 percent, and the United Kingdom for 1.1 percent.
Imports of goods and raw materials totaled 5.2 billion USD, decreasing by 833.6 million USD (13.6 percent) from 2019. Mongolia imported goods from 142 countries: 26.4 percent from Russia, 35.8 percent from China, 4.6 percent from the United States, 7.7 percent from Japan, 4.5 percent from South Korea, and 3.5 percent from Germany, accounting for 82.5 percent of all imports.
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On January 9, a total of 22,993 people were tested for COVID-19 using PCR tests and 21 new infections were confirmed. Of these new cases, 19 were registered in connection to known outbreak clusters, one patient is a peacekeeper who returned from Afghanistan, and one patient is a healthcare worker. To date, the total number of confirmed cases in Mongolia has reached 1,429, with 62.7 percent having recovered. The outbreak at Achtan Hospital continues to grow as a total of 45 people have so far been infected. There have been 24 cases connected to the outbreak at Munkhhada LLC. The Ministry of Health warns that there are active infection sites in Ulaanbaatar, including Bayanzurkh District General Hospital, Munkhhada LLC, and Achtan Hospital.
So far, 18,584 residents of the 5th and 6th khoroos of Bayangol District have been tested, and six people tested positive for COVID-19 infection.
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