AmCham Daily Newswire

DP’s National Consultative Commission meeting is delayed indefinitely

Summary: Former General Secretary of the DP L. Erkhembayar announced that the highly anticipated National Consultative Commission Conference of the DP, which was scheduled to take place on August 25th, has been delayed indefinitely. The reason for delay was the urgent call for an irregular session by the Speaker of the Parliament M. Enkhbold to discuss proposed budget amendments on the same day. The DP members planned to discuss the party’s reformation process and to choose the next Chair of the DP.

Keywords: government policy, election The National Post /pages 1/

MP O. Baasankhuu – ‘How should I feed my children if you cut my salary?’

Summary: During a press conference, MP O. Baasankhuu, the only representative from the MPRP in the Parliament, shared that he does not agree with many of the proposed draft amendments, and added that they do not correspond with MRPR action plans. The MP approves the decision to lower the salaries of the executives of the state-owned corporations, but noted that he is worried about his children’s’ future because his monthly salary of 1,200,000 MNT has been reduced. MP O. Baasankhuu believes that eliminating the Deputy Minister positions and discontinuing the construction of unnecessary buildings in provinces that are being funded with the state budget would have better outcomes for improving the economy. He added that the increase of excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco by 20% would only result in more illegal sales. In conclusion, MP O. Baasankhuu stated that he is surprised by the decision made by the MPP to increase individual income taxes since they opposed to it in the previous Parliament.

Keywords: budget amendment, economic decline The National Post /pages 2/

UNICEF conducts a study on child-level poverty for Mongolia

Summary: Yesterday, representatives of UNICEF reported the results of the multidimensional child-level poverty study for Mongolia conducted in cooperation with the Government of Mongolia. Researchers highlighted that it was important to take stock of the number of children who are considered poor according to both monetary and non-monetary definitions, as the baseline for these exercises has to be provided both as the number of children living in “extremely” poor households (in terms of monetary poverty) and as the number of children who are multidimensionally poor or deprived. Mongolia analysis using 2012 data finds that in the observed sample of children age 5-14 years, 36.5% are living below the poverty line, while, among the sample of children age 15-17 years, 30.1% of children are considered monetary poor. While the monetary poverty rate in Mongolia has impressively dropped from 27.4% in 2012 to 21.6% in 2014, child poverty rates are higher. The results also show deprivation headcount rates for children age 0-23 months range from 9.4% in the early childhood development dimension, to 76.9% of children deprived in the housing dimension and a similar percentage in sanitation; that means that one out of ten children in the youngest age category suffer from a lack of parental attention and care while more than 8 out 10 children live in dangerous or substandard housing and sanitation conditions. You can read the full report here.

Keywords: monetary policy, economic recession Daily News /page 15/

Stray dogs to be spayed

Summary: The Ulaanbaatar City administration made the decision to reduce the rapidly growing population of stray dogs and cats by spaying or neutering them in an effort to avoid shooting them. There are approximately 400,000 stray animals in Ulaanbaatar, and City Council spends more than 800 million MNT annually to shoot the stray dogs and cats. The working group, which has been assigned by Mayor S. Batbold, announced that they are looking for a way to reduce the cost of the spaying and neutering surgery from the current average price of 35,000 – 150,000 MNT to 15,000 – 30,0000 MNT.

Keywords: development, society Today /page 1/

Erdenes Mongol chooses new Board of Directors

Summary: The Government of Mongolia appointed the new Board of Directors for Erdenes Mongol LLC. The names of the directors have not been publicly announced and the applications of the independent directors are in the final selection process. According to the law, Erdenes Mongol’s board should consist of nine directors and three independent directors.

Keywords: mining, structure The National Post /page 1/

The Speaker of the Parliament opens the irregular session

Summary: The Speaker of the Parliament M. Enkhbold called for an irregular session of the Parliament yesterday evening. Today, the Speaker made the opening speech and highlighted the urgent need to discuss the economic situation and the proposed budget amendments by the Cabinet. The Speaker noted the importance of having a realistic diagnosis of the current situation and that the Parliament needs to spend their time on finding the solution rather than arguing about the situation. After the opening speech, the Caucuses of the MPP and the DP called for a meeting and the Standing Committees announced they will have a conference in the afternoon. The irregular session will resume tomorrow.

Keywords: government stability, irregular session www.montsame.mn