Industry representatives say that companies are taking out loans in order to expand their operations and they end up with a deficit because of interest owed on loans.

The director of News Remicon LLC noted that the construction sector is expected to be back on track due to prices for exported building materials rising in 2018.

Investment in construction and building repair services in Mongolia totaled 3.1 trillion MNT in 2017 based on the preliminary results of an industry analysis.

The report’s findings and recommendations were discussed with representatives of state authorities, including the election administration, the parliamentary working group on the election law and the media regulatory authority, as well as civil society representatives. Discussions focused on specific steps that can be taken to follow up on ODIHR recommendations.

ODIHR experts and the authorities discussed the need for a comprehensive review of the legal framework for elections to address existing gaps and to empower relevant institutions with effective oversight powers and clear jurisdiction on activities throughout the electoral process. Particular emphasis was given to granting the General Election Commission broader authority to issue regulations and provide additional guidance to lower-level commissions.

Other recommendations discussed were to introduce well-defined and transparent criteria for the appointment of lower-level election officials and to broaden reporting requirements for campaign finance.

“The window between elections in Mongolia is open and we encouragingly look to the authorities for initiatives to enhance the conduct of democratic elections,” said Steven Martin, Senior Adviser of the ODIHR Elections Department. “A meaningful and inclusive review of electoral legislation could further strengthen confidence in the institutions responsible for elections and serve as an example of good practice in the OSCE region. ODIHR is ready to support these efforts.”

The expert team also discussed recommendations related to lifting undue restrictions on the right to stand for office, including the prohibition of candidates who are independent or from non-parliamentary parties. They drew attention to the need to enhance the media’s coverage of elections and improve the process for addressing complaints and appeals.

The discussions also covered possible next steps for co-operation between the authorities and ODIHR, including through the provision of expert opinions on future legal amendments and support to Mongolia’s initiative of establishing a regional training centre for election observation.

The follow-up visit followed an official invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All OSCE participating States have committed themselves to following up on ODIHR's election assessments and recommendations.

On January 16, the first Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of the Project was held at Blue Sky Hotel, chaired by Ts.Tsengel, State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and attended by the corresponding officials from the MET, the Environment and Climate Fund (ECF) and JICA. A kickoff workshop followed in the afternoon for the relevant stakeholders, including donors and government organizations.

The first JCC addressed some issues related to GHG, such as United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s reporting requirement, domestic context of Mongolia to the GHG inventories and its current challenges. In addition, attendees were informed about an overview to the Project.

In brief, the project will be implemented for 4 years with the aim of achieving overall goal of regularly improvement of GHG inventory with the cooperation of relevant institutions of Mongolia.

The Project outputs focusing on activity data on Energy sector and developing parameters in the Land Use, Land Use and Forestry sector as well as some job training activities collaborated between JICA and ECF experts.
source: JICA

EU states decided last month to draw up the list in a bid to discourage the most aggressive tax dodging practices.

But eight of the 17 jurisdictions currently listed are set to be quickly removed from the list after they offered to change their tax rules, according to EU documents seen by Reuters.

Panama, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Barbados, Grenada, Macao, Mongolia and Tunisia are the jurisdictions that EU officials have recommended be delisted.

The removal of Bahrain was also initially considered, but its delisting was eventually not recommended, the documents show.

The proposal will be discussed at a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday and is expected to be adopted by EU finance ministers when they meet next week in Brussels for monthly talks.

Jurisdictions set to remain on the blacklist are American Samoa, Bahrain, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Namibia, Palau, Saint Lucia, Samoa, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The proposal for the delisting was made by the so-called Code of Conduct Group, which gathers tax experts from the 28 EU member states. It monitors countries’ commitments to abide by EU standards on tax matters.

If the recommendation were confirmed by EU ministers, the eight jurisdictions will be moved to a so-called gray list which includes those who have committed to change their rules on tax transparency and cooperation. The gray list currently includes 47 jurisdictions.

The shrinking of the blacklist is likely to be criticized by tax transparency groups. In December some activists denounced the listing process as a whitewash and had called for the inclusion in the blacklist of some EU countries accused of facilitating tax avoidance, like Luxembourg, Malta, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The recommended removal of Panama may cause particular outcry, as it has been at the center of one of the largest disclosures of offshore schemes, the so-called Panama Papers.

EU officials have said the purpose of the blacklist is to convince jurisdictions to become more transparent. Having fewer on the list means more countries have committed to changes, they say.

Ripple was down over 20 percent, trading at $1.15. This is a three-fold collapse from the $3.65 peak it hit on January 4. Bitcoin cash, cardano, litecoin, neo and other top cryptocurrencies have also slipped by up to 25 percent from the previous trading session.

Cryptocurrencies are falling on reports that authorities in China are planning to widen their crackdown on trading in the country. A Chinese state-run newspaper Securities Times reported on Tuesday that Beijing will target over-the-counter trading, offshore sites used for centralized trading, and peer-to-peer trading of large transactions.

Bloomberg also reported that China will bar access to local and offshore platforms that provide centralized trading, and target traders who provide bids and offers for big-scale trading.

Another BRICS country, Brazil, has joined China and India in taking action against cryptocurrencies. The South American country has prohibited local investment funds from buying digital cash.

The world's most popular cryptocurrency bitcoin was trading at $10,756 as of 9:20am GMT on Wednesday.

The Government decided to cut the pension loan interest rate in 2017. Previously Khan Bank and the State Bank had been offering pensioners six-month loans with 15 percent rates.

Out of the 381.8 thousand people that are currently receiving pensions, 230.8 thousand have taken loans worth MNT 680.9 billion at a rate of 18 percent to be paid over 36 months.

According to the Bank of Mongolia (BoM), the amendments followed the international practice of central banks and created a favorable legal environment the BoM by improving independency and decision making process. The amendments will help implement the monetary policy, regulate the banking sector monitoring, limit budgetary activities of the BoM that are not in line with its objectives and is set to be effective until April 1 2018. The law is expected to contribute to long-term economic growth by creating legal environment for development and implementation of proper monetary policy.

MP Terbishdagva Dendev said, “The central banks of other countries are focusing on price stability, which is significant in the long-term. Unfortunately, the article concerning the price stability has been disapproved by the Parliament.” MP Damba-Ochir Dorjdamba stated, “The amendments to the Laws on Central Bank will ensure financial stability during economic crisis. The BoM’s decision will now require approvals of four councils and one committee, retracting some of the Governor’s authority. Furthermore, the BoM will be able to monitor commercial banks and take timely measures. In addition, the BoM is now prohibited to issue loans for social welfare programs and projects. Only commercial banks will issue loans to the Government if necessary.”

Tugsbilig.B

Mongolia extracted a total of 47.5 million tons of coal and sold 40.7 million tons, of which 33.3 million tons of coal has been exported abroad. The amount is significantly higher compared to the expected level of 32 million tons in 2017. Furthermore, the coal export increased by 29.1 percent in the year-over-year comparison.

Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC has failed to reach its forecast amount of 11 million tons. As for Energy Resource, the company had a plan to start operation of concentration plant in the fourth quarter of 2017; however, the sharp decrease of entrance capacity in Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod border checkpoint had an impact in the company’s operations. Additionally, the Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry informed that the issues at the border checkpoint can be settled with a high-level meeting between Mongolia and China. According to the authorities of the border checkpoint, around only 10 coal trucks were passing through Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod as of last Thursday.

Approximately 300 coal trucks were entering the border checkpoint in the beginning of 2018; however, Winsway Enterprise, one of the mining companies transporting coal through Gashuunsuhait-Gantsmod route, protested in China and caused the Chinese Government to halt the transport road near Gantsmod border checkpoint. According to the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry, the company issued twelve demand from Gantsmod, which also included the Mongolian side to restore coal transport from Tavan Tolgoi to Gashuun Sukhait and stop the truck drivers from paying social insurance. Presently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Transportation Center are negotiation with the Chinese side.

Strengthening the rule of law in Mongolia is one of the priorities of the newly established European Union Delegation under the 2016-2020 EU Human Rights and Democracy Country Strategy for Mongolia. In this context, the EU and its Mongolian partners selected the implementation of the recently adopted criminal code and criminal procedure code in line with human rights standards as an area for further EU cooperation and support.

Ts.Davaasuren, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, and G.Bayasgalan, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs opened the conference which brought together national stakeholders such as representatives from the General Prosecutor’ Office, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Commission of Mongolia. National and European experts presented reflections and recommendations on the furtherance of international human rights standards as the country seeks to reform its criminal justice system.

While the entry into force of the criminal and criminal procedure code in July 2017 provides a window of opportunity to protect human rights and strengthen the rule of law, many challenges remain for its implementation. “This conference presents an excellent opportunity to accelerate criminal justice reform through an open debate not only on legislative amendments, but also on the wider policy environment in which these changes need to be implemented,' said EU’s Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Mr. Marco Ferri. (EU Delegation to Mongolia)

The price of gold on the London Metal Exchange has been rising since the beginning of 2018. The BoM set its purchasing price at 102,000 to 103,000 MNT per gram.

BoM officials say gold purchases have increased due to consistently rising gold prices. In 2017, the BoM purchased 20.01 tons of gold. Under the Alt 2 campaign, the BoM plans to purchase 25 tons of gold each year.