Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On April 9, the Parliament backed a resolution on a package of seven measures to protect the health and income of people, preserve employment and stimulate the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the approved measures, Parliament Speaker G.Zandanshatar announced another several measures aimed at ensuring financial and economic stability, preventing risks and making digital transition. The parliament is expected to discuss and approve the package of measures sometime soon.  

1. To set up reserves of fuel and petroleum products by providing support on establishing contracts with suppliers, paving the way for cheaper imports and proper storage and give funding for eligible importers of petroleum products. 

2. To cut or soften interest rates of commercial loans with principal payment of up to MNT 500 million. 

To continue to provide funding for the mortgage loan program with a view to prevent from bad debts of the construction industry and keep employment. The total employment of the construction industry of Mongolia reaches 100,000 as introduced at the press conference and there are more than 58,000 unsold apartments on the market. 

This measure includes additional three months of deferrals on housing mortgage loan repayment and their interests, bringing the total duration of postponement allowed by commercial banks to six months. Those who did not made requests to defer their loan repayment are entitled to a three-month money incentive that equals to 2 percentage points of annual nominal interest rate. And a special housing mortgage program for healthcare officers and public service officials will be implemented. 

3. To reinforce the activities of credit guarantee fund to support small and medium sized businesses and increase their financing capabilities and ensure stability of their income. Loan guarantee of around MNT 1.2 million will be granted from the fund. 

4. To stimulate banking reform efforts -  A banking reform program will be developed with a view to improve the health, reliability and transparency of the banking system with better public control and benefits to its customers.  The banking reform will help achieve constant decrease of loan interest rates. Speaker Zandanshatar also announced that the monetary policy rate will be reduced to 9 percent by 1 percentage point. The Bank of Mongolia, on March 11, reduced policy rate to 10 percent. 

5. To boost the implementation of the Gold – 2 program in order to increase foreign exchange reserves, grant soft loans to gold mining entities and make the required funding possible from domestic and foreign sources, including loans. 

6. To resolve nonperforming assets of liquidated banks and put the immovable properties seized for their debts into economic circulation by using them in public schools and hospitals. A working group responsible for this issue will be set up involving the Independent Authority Against Corruption, General Prosecutor's Office and cessionary.  

8. The parliament will discuss 'bill against pandemic' and its implementation will be reviewed by the parliament every month. The law will give the right to make budget revisions to the government of Mongolia and make face mask-wearing compulsory.  

9. To create a legal environment designed for protecting the borrowers by combating against loan sharking practices. 

10. To make digital transformation – strengthening online public services and sales, having an education portal for online learning and developing mobile application for COVID-19 information.