Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ At its regular meeting held today, the Cabinet adopted a resolution on supporting the economy of Mongolia in the period of heightened state of readiness for prevention of coronavirus infection. The resolution reflects to resume export of coal, petroleum and other minerals from March 15.

It regulates that the drivers, who fully ensured disinfection, quarantine and hygiene requirements should crossed out the border, transporting coal, petroleum and minerals and come back within the day. Copper concentrate export by Oyu Tolgoi deposit is running normally so far and trucks are being completely disinfected in addition to providing protective wears to heavy truck drivers. Therefore, it was resolved to introduce the standard into other exports, reports Ch.Khurelbaatar, Minister of Finance.

Furthermore, several regulations have been reflected in the resolution regarding to easing burden on individuals and entities. In particular, the resolution included issues such as formulation of a bill on not imposing deferred interest and fine in cases the entities could not pay their social insurance premium of their staffs in the period of heightened state of readiness and its submission to the Parliament. Moreover, a bill on not imposing fine and deferred interest on entities that couldn’t pay their tax and exempting markets, trade centers and service provider places which reduced their rental payment, from income tax, will be submitted to the Parliament.

“Although the state budget revenue dropped by MNT 210 billion compared to the same period of the previous year, no budget amendments will be made this year. The country’s economy is shrinking to a certain extent in the period of heightened state of readiness. As suspension of investment will cause adverse impact in this time, general budget managers have been ordered to carry out tender works on building schools, kindergartens and hospitals. In the last two to three years, the Government set goals and worked on improving economic basic indicators and easing debt burden. As a result, the Government paid back debt worth MNT 8.2 trillion. Therefore, the budget has a capability to overcome one-year hardship. Mongolia exported 4 million tons of coal this time last year. While, as of the first two months of this year, the country has exported 2.7 million tons of coal. The Chinese side expressed its readiness to receive coal from Mongolia,” the Finance Minister said.

Additionally, authorities of the Bank of Mongolia presented measures to be taken. The BoM’s Monetary Policy Council plans to hold its meeting at the beginning of March to discuss whether to reduce monetary policy rate. "With reduction of the monetary policy rate, conditions will be created to improve solvency of the banks and to decrease loan interest," said BoM President Lkhagvasuren.