AmCham Daily Newswire

Governor of Bank of Mongolia N. Bayartsaikhan – “Mongolia has a bright future”

Summary: The Governor of Bank of Mongolia Bayartsaikhan provided comprehensive perspectives on the current fiscal situation, including ways to move forward and address the challenges. He emphasized that since the 1990s Mongolia has encountered economic challenges several times and solutions were always mapped out. The coming 2 years will be challenging and Mongolia has to engage with the IFIs to figure out the solutions. Bayartsaikhan noted that the immediate step is to have a single, consolidated budget. Currently, there is a state budget approved by the Parliament; the programs and projects financed by the Development Bank; programs financed by the Bank of Mongolia; and numerous unregulated concessional agreements and projects. Regarding his statement on the international exchange reserves of Mongolia, the Governor discussed that he has not made any statements to intentionally create public concern, he just presented the accurate situation. Bayartsaikhan highlighted that the current hype of the exchange rate is speculative and urged citizens not to rush to exchange MNT into USD. There are many ways to stabilize the exchange rate and interventions are only one of the solutions. He stated that, at the moment, it is premature to say if Mongolia will implement the IMF Stand-By program. The negotiations are on-going to define a protocol and format of the collaboration. The Bank of Mongolia will aim to work impartially from the Government; however, financing will be provided to the Government if needed. The clear signs of the economic recovery will come in the second half of 2018.

Keywords: development policy, fiscal stability Daily News /pages 1,4,5/

Exit bans imposed on Kh. Battulga and A. Gansukh

Summary: The General Prosecutor’s office made a briefing on the latest actions and complaints related to the elections. The Prosecutor’s office stated that Mr. Battulga and Mr. Gansukh are considered suspects in the mismanagement of the 267 km Gashuunsukhait-Ukhaa hudag railway project and are banned from leaving the country. Currently, the ban is temporarily lifted for Battulga who is participating in the Olympic Games in his capacity as the President of the Mongolian National Judo Federation. The Prosecutor’ office reviewed 107 complaints related to the Parliamentary and Citizen Representatives’ elections and launched one criminal case, two administrative cases and rejected 103 complaints.

Keywords: corruption, law enforcement The National Post /pages 1,4/

Task force is set-up to investigate the Development Bank of Mongolia

Summary: The Cabinet decided to undertake a comprehensive review of the operations of the Development Bank of Mongolia. The task force is chaired by the Vice Minister of Justice and Home Affairs and is authorized to undertake a full review of all matters related to the Bank’s financing of various projects. During the previous Parliament, a MPP-led task force did a review of the Bank and revealed numerous misconducts in the financing of the development projects through the proceeds from bonds. However, no corrective actions took place.

Keywords: banking sector, fiscal discipline Century News /page 1/

Amendment to Corporate Income Taxes Law for 1% corporate income tax

Summary: The Cabinet approved the Legal Concept of the amendment to the Corporate Income Taxes Law. The legal concept proposes to introduce 1% corporate income taxes to corporate entities with annual sales revenues of at least 1.5 billion MNT. The Cabinet assigned the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice to jointly develop a draft amendment in line with the approved legal concept.

Keywords: fiscal stability, taxation reform Today /page 2/

Where should the DP reform start?

Summary: The DP is due to convene a meeting of the National Consulting Committee. The discussions are on going regarding the vision of the reforms and ways forward, as well as who should be the next chairman. Many leaders of the DP admit that the party is led by factions who are heavily engaged in an internal power struggle. Some note that the DP should start by defining a list of “Don’ts” based on past mistakes and define a sustainable path forward to truly reform the party.

Keywords: government stability, political reforms http://www.news.mn/r/310498