Mongolians scrabble for dollars after local currency's plunge www.reuters.com

Making money amid Mongolia's deepening economic crisis, currency dealers thronging the black markets of Ulaanbaatar wave wads of American dollars and Chinese yuan, warning desperate customers that foreign banknotes are becoming scarcer by the day.

The Naiman Sharga market, close to the Mongolian capital's cluttered and impoverished "ger" or tent districts, has become a daily destination for residents panicked by a precipitous decline in the currency, the tugrik.

"Now I can't find any more dollars," said Ganbold, a currency trader, sporting a white, brimmed hat and galloping-horse belt buckle.

Ganbold has traded currency since the fall of communism in 1990 and up until now he’s been able to rely on the network of traders whenever he needed more cash.

But if a shipment of dollars doesn’t arrive from overseas as he hopes, Ganbold will have to close shop until more arrives.

Mongolia's government, elected in a landslide at the end of June, has been plunged into turmoil after years of collapsing foreign investment, unsustainable fiscal expansion and a decline in demand for commodities like coal and copper.

Last week, the central bank hiked interest rates by 450 basis points to a record 15 percent, stabilizing a currency whose 9 percent fall against the dollar from the start of August made it the world's worst performer. MNT=

Dollar supplies have dwindled, and commercial banks were severely restricting currency transactions, with one bank refusing to convert any dollars, Ganbold told Reuters as frustrated buyers milled around him.

Finance Minister Battogtokh Choijilsuren said earlier this month that the central bank's foreign exchange reserves stood at $1.3 billion. But, he added that after stripping out a 15 billion yuan currency swap agreement with China, reserves would show a deficit of $46 million.

An International Monetary Fund team was in town last week to meet members of Prime Minister Jargaltulga Erdenebat's new government, but some analysts suspect Mongolia might turn to China for another swap agreement rather resort to the IMF.

"There is a good chance China asserts its regional influence and offers Mongolia a bigger and better deal than the IMF in a bailout,” Nick Cousyn, chief operating officer of brokerage BDSec in Ulaanbaatar, commented.

“Mongolia is highly strategic for China, given Mongolia’s vast natural resources and potential as an economic corridor with Russia.”

ANXIOUS TIMES

The government, which promised to cut debt and lure back foreign investors, has introduced austerity measures like cutting senior employees' salaries and cancelling monthly student allowances.

Economic growth slowed to 1.4 percent in the first six months of 2016, down from an all-time high of 17.3 percent in the mining-driven boom of 2011.

Nearly half of Mongolia's three million population live in Ulaanbaatar, and these are desperate times for those aspiring families sending their sons and daughters for a university education overseas.

"My son is going to America for university tomorrow, but dollars are expensive and it's hard for us," a woman, who gave her name as Enkhmaa, said as she, and many other parents, hunted for the best rate among Naiman Sharga's dealers.

On Tuesday morning, traders were offering around 2,247 to 2,250 tugrik per dollar, which was still better than the official rate of 2,260 tugrik and the all-time low of 2,265.28 that was hit last Thursday.

Bank of Mongolia Governor Nadmid Bayartsaikhan told local media on Friday that he expected a tough two years, renegotiating terms on foreign debt which had totaled $23.5 billion in the first quarter of this year.

In a transcript published on the bank's official website, he called the appreciation of the dollar "artificial", and said it would eventually reverse course.

"That's why I would like to tell people not to be tricked by today's dollar exchange rate," he said. "Don't panic."

Asian stocks consolidate after Wall Street gains, oil slips www.reuters.com

Asian stocks consolidated a recent run of gains on Wednesday, helped by Wall Street's rise overnight, even as oil prices slid on trade data showing a surprise build-up in U.S. crude stocks.

Tesla's Elon Musk says new car battery is a milestone www.bbc.com

Tesla Motors has unveiled a new battery pack for the performance versions of its Model S and X cars that will extend the range and mean faster acceleration.
Elon Musk, chief executive of the electric car maker, hailed the upgraded battery as a "profound milestone".
He said the battery cell chemistry is the same, but the reconfigured product stored more energy in the same space.
Tesla, which this month posted a steeper-than-expected loss, is adding a new sedan car to its sports line-up.
Mr Musk claimed that the new 100-kilowatt hour battery pack means high-end versions of the Model S sedan, called the P100D, will be the world's fastest accelerating car in production.
It will do 0-60mph in 2.5 seconds. He said there were faster cars on the market, but these were limited-run vehicles, while the Tesla is aimed at the mass market, he said.
"These are very profound milestones and I think will help convince people around the world that electric is the future," he said on a conference call with journalists.
The new battery extends the range of performance versions of the new Model S well beyond 300 miles (482.8 km), from about 290 miles, Tesla said.
Mr Musk said that in cool weather, a driver could travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles - a nearly 400 mile drive - without recharging.
In May, Tesla said it was stepping up production plans for its upcoming Model 3 mass-market sedan and would build a total of 500,000 all-electric vehicles in 2018, two years ahead of schedule.
But the company also warned that investment would ramp up as well.

Polish apple farmers casualties of Russia-EU trade war www.rt.com

Poland is expecting a record apple harvest, but growers are having difficulty selling their produce and even face bankruptcy. Before the trade dispute with the EU, Russia accounted for more than half of Polish apple exports.

Bill Gates is now worth $90 billion www.cnn.com

Bill Gates' net worth has crossed the $90 billion threshold, according to a real-time rankings from Bloomberg's Billionaire Index.
Gates' net worth climbed not because of any stock rise at Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30), but because of jumps in the shares of Canadian National Railway (CNI) Company and Ecolab (ECL), two smaller companies in which he has holdings.
He's well ahead of Amancio Ortega, the Spanish retailer who is the world's second richest man. Ortega's fortune is $76 billion.
Forbes, which also tracks billionaires' wealth, estimates Gates' net worth at a more modest $78.7 billion. Forbes also says that Gates' net worth briefly topped $100 billion back in 1999, back before the federal antitrust case decision against Microsoft that year and the bursting of the tech bubble in early 2000.
According to Bloomberg, Gates' net worth is up $6.2 billion so far this year, but that's only the fourth biggest gain among billionaires on the index.

New IKEA Japan president takes recalls seriously www3.nhk.or.jp

The new president of major furniture retailer IKEA Japan says she takes a series of recalls at the firm seriously.

India investigating French submarine company data leak www.bbc.com

India is investigating a massive data leak from French shipbuilder DCNS that affects a major submarine contract for its navy, defence officials say.
The leak of more than 22,000 pages exposes secrets about the combat capabilities of Scorpene-class vessels.
It is not clear who first obtained the confidential documents, which were made public by the Australian media.
Earlier this year DCNS won Australia's largest-ever defence contract to build a fleet of advanced submarines.
Details about the Shortfin Barracuda submarine class that will be built for Australia were not contained in the leak.
India signed a $3.5b (£2.6b, €3.1b) deal for six Scorpene vessels in 2005. They are being built in cooperation with an Indian government-owned shipbuilder in Mumbai.
India is investigating the leak to "find out what has happened," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
The Scorpene submarines are small-to-intermediate size vessels currently in use in Malaysia and Chile. Brazil is due to deploy the submarine type in 2018.
A DCNS spokeswoman described the leak as "a serious matter" and said French authorities would formally investigate.

Izuma Ushiyama: Mongolia has high potential to build solar power plant www.gogo.mn

11th Mongolia-Japan International Conference on Electric Power Transmission and Distribution Technologies and International Standardization is being held at the Energy School of the National University of Science and Technology. We deliver you the interview with Chairman of the Board of Ashikaga Institue of Technology, Ph.D., Izumi Ushiyama. 

-What energy technologies are able to be implemented in Mongolia according to the Japanese experience?
-According to the example of Japan, Mongolia has high potential to build solar power plant in renewable energy sector. 

-What is the theme of your presentation at the conference? 
-I will deliver presentation on global trend of using natural renewable energy, its experience and current condition. My topic will cover Mongolia too. 

-How is the possibility and terms to use solar energy in Mongolia? What is the first step Mongolia should take?
-Technology to build solar power plant has developed already. The key thing to consider is to find solution on connection to the central network. For instance, wind power plant need to be built in windy place. 

-What renewable energy policy is Japan maintaining? 
-Government of Japan has started implementing promotional pricing system in renewable energy sector since 2012. Government purchase renewable energy with high cost. 

As a result, renewable energy production reached 80 million kwh over the last three years. 

-How do you evaluate the global energy consumption?
-The most serous problem facing to the world's energy consumption is CO2 emissions. There are two solutions. First, nuclear power station and the second solution is to build renewable energy sources. 

However, Japanese experience show that nuclear power station is not the right solution. Thus, we should use renewable energy. 

R.Oyun

Draft 2016-2020 governmental action program to be submitted to parliament www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ At its expanded meeting held Tuesday, the cabinet discussed a draft governmental action program for 2016-2020, and decided to submit it to parliament, reflecting proposals from local authorities.

This program has been worked out based on the Concept on Sustainable Development until 2030, the election program of the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) and views from people, civil society organizations, contracts and documents.

Main objectives of the program are to revive the national economy which is in difficult situation in a short time, to support social sectors by accelerate the economic growth and to improve the people’s livelihood. The program also sets certain goals to empower the public service, to maximize professionalism of public servants, to make the public services quicker and more transparent and to strengthen the national security by fortifying the social trust.

The governmental action program has 350 clauses in four chapters. 

Almost 28,000 workers affected by VW production problems www.rt.com

The biggest European car producer Volkswagen is facing production delays in a dispute with component suppliers. A week of production delays at the main Wolfsburg plant may cost VW up to €100 million in gross profits.“Production at several Volkswagen plants has been interrupted as a result of a halt in component deliveries by external suppliers,” said a statement from VW.