Statement by the Prime Minister of Mongolia www.bcmongolia.com

Prime Minister of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh issued a statement on March 26 at 15:00. Below is a summary of the Prime Minister's statement.

Mongolia’s Small-Country Strategy for Containing COVID-19 www.thediplomat.com

The global pandemic of COVID-19 did not skip Mongolia. The disease, caused by a novel strain of coronavirus, has affected all the countries in East Asia, and the number of infected is increasing daily. As of this writing, China, where the outbreak began, had seen a total of 81,897 cases, South Korea had 9,332, Japan had 1,387, and Russia had 1,036 (North Korea has so far denied the existence of any COVID-19 cases, though that is widely questioned).

In East Asia, then, Mongolia so far has the lowest number of infected people with just 11 cases.

The government of Mongolia’s containment strategy is so far working for the country of 3.2 million people.

As early as mid-February, when the new coronavirus was beginning to spread within Chinese borders, the Mongolian government’s strategy was to adopt decisive preventative measures. By canceling the national holiday Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian lunar new year, the country was able to slow travel between Ulaanbaatar and provinces outside the capital. Additionally, Mongolia closed its borders with China and Russia, stopping the inflow and outflow of people, and banned international flights from hotspots like South Korea. These steps have helped immensely to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

It is imperative for Mongolia to take COVID-19 seriously because of its vulnerability. The scope and the rate of infection of COVID-19 pose a great threat to Mongolia medically, economically, and socially. On the other hand, the Mongolian government was able to quickly mobilize a COVID-19 task force of 832 individuals monitoring 336 checkpoints around the country as early as February 23, 2020.

Mongolia’s small population potentially made it easier to track, locate, and contain the spread of the virus. The government was also able to bring its citizens home from countries like South Korea, Japan, Turkey, and Russia.

The first case of COVID-19 in Mongolia was a French energy company employee who traveled into Mongolia via Russia on March 2. The Mongolian government and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) quickly responded by containing the man and the people he had been in contact with. The government’s containment effort was supported by the public, who had already been alerted by mid-February. Mongolians learned about the increasing severity of the outbreak and the vulnerabilities shown in China, South Korea, and Italy.

Mongolia has even been active in supporting other countries in combating COVID-19. Mongolian President Battulga Khaltmaa’s visit to China on February 27 was viewed as an example of the most genuine support to China, which at the time was in the most difficult part of its struggle to contain COVID-19. In support of China’s fight against the virus, Mongolia donated 30,000 sheep as a strategic partner and a neighbor. Mongolia has also been on the receiving end of aid. The United States, as Mongolia’s fifth strategic partner, has committed $1.2 million in financial support to combating COVID-19 in Mongolia.

On March 24, in an interview with a local media agency, Major General Badral Tuvshin, director of the National Emergency Management Agency, stated that “In combating COVID-19, Mongolia is not in the stage of a national emergency. In accordance with the decision of the Cabinet Secretariat of Mongolia, the National Emergency Management Agency is working under the ‘heightened awareness’ stage in containing COVID-19. If the situation worsens, the next level of containment strategy will be ‘all-hands-on-deck-readiness.’”

He continued by giving an outline of Mongolia’s situation: “Moreover, as of March 24, 2020, there are 2,034 people in quarantine; however, the numbers are expected to grow as Mongolians are expected to return home from abroad. Among the nine provinces that are currently utilizing quarantine facilities, Bayan-Olgii province [in the very western part of Mongolia] has the highest number of people [in quarantine], around 360.”

On March 22, 2020, the Cabinet Secretariat of Government of Mongolia assembled an emergency session and made a decision to close down schools and social activities until April 30. The government is currently expecting to receive around 750 Mongolian citizens from abroad. The earliest arrivals will be coming from South Korea on April 2, and Japan on April 3. Those arriving will be quarantined for an extended 21 days, per a recent government decision on containment of COVID-19. The successful mobilization of the Mongolian government and its task force in locating registered citizens abroad continue to play a crucial role in containment efforts.

Thanks to the National Management of Emergency Agency’s COVID-19 task force and its efforts, thus far Mongolia has been able to contain the spread of the virus in its small population.

Bolor Lkhaajav received a Master of Arts degree in Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco. She is currently writing a book on Mongolia’s foreign policy and security.

Government unveils MNT 5.1 trillion plan to help those affected by COVID-19 www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On March 27, Prime Minister of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh delivered an address to the people and entities of Mongolia to introduce the government's new measures concerning the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the time of the coronavirus crisis, the government adheres to two main principles, first, to protect the health of the Mongolian people, and second, to pay attention on the economic situation. In this connection, we are utilizing all available resources.” said the Prime Minister.

"MNT 17 billion has been disbursed for purchasing essential medical equipment and for disinfection and decontamination, and additional MNT 20.6 billion is to be allocated" he said. “MNT 159 billion financing will be spent for necessary medical and protective equipment and so on”.

He then noted that the government is spending MNT 200 billion in total to safeguard health of the people.

Afterwards, PM Khurelsukh announced that the government of Mongolia today decided to take the following measures to be financed with MNT 5.1 trillion to support the country’s economy weakened by the coronavirus outbreak.

1. All entities and companies are exempt from paying social insurance contributions for six months from April 1 until October 1.

2. Personal income tax will be waived for six months from April 1 until October 1.

3. Entities with revenues of less than MNT 1.5 billion are entitled to exemption of corporate tax for six months from April 1 until October 1.

4. For 3 months, the government will pay monthly MNT 200,000 to each employee of private companies keeping their workers on their job despite the difficulties in their businesses and declining revenues.

5. Loan with 3-percent interest rate, totaling MNT 300 billion, will be granted by the government to national cashmere companies for purchasing cashmere from herders. Cashmere for price will be set at less than MNT 100 thousand. This measure is expected to directly benefit 233 thousand herding families, according to the PM.

6. For 3 months, the monthly ‘Child Money’ allowance of MNT 20,000 to children aged under 18 is raised to MNT 30,000.

7. Necessary measures will be taken so that retail price of fuel per liter would be cut by MNT 300-400, starting April 15.

During the address, the Prime Minister expressed his position on the President’s address on the steps for containing the impacts of COVID-19.

“We consider that halting the large scale crucial development projects outlined in the State Budget would result in further employment decline. Therefore, we are not planning to make revisions to the 2020 State Budget. Furthermore, the upcoming Parliamentary Elections will not be postponed as we see that as an unnecessary step at this moment. However, we respect the recommendations by the President and will further look into them” said PM Khurelsukh.

Following the Prime Minister’s address, Finance Minister Ch.Khurelbaatar introduced that the State Budget is running short of MNT 275 billion than planned and the MNT 5.1 trillion required for today’s new measures will be made available through government’s appropriate capital management of state funds.

The Finance Minister also mentioned that the government has paid off debts amounting to MNT 8.2 trillion in the past three years with the help of budget discipline and economic growth.

Throughput grows in China-Mongolia border customs despite COVID-19 www.xinhuanet.com

HOHHOT, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The land checkpoint of Erenhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region saw an increase in throughput in the first two months, despite measures taken to reduce gatherings for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Bilguun: Drop in copper price may affect other commodities www.zgm.mn

Coronavirus: US overtakes China with most cases www.bbc.com

“Mongolia Poverty Update” Report Published www.worldbank.org

Ulaanbaatar, March 26, 2020 - The National Statistics Office of Mongolia (NSO) and the World Bank today launched a new joint poverty report, Mongolia Poverty Update, which draws on the 2018 Household Socio-Economic Survey (HSES).

According to the report, the pace of poverty reduction slowed down despite robust macroeconomic growth, indicating that Mongolia is struggling to translate the benefits of macroeconomic growth into improvements in household welfare, especially for the poor.

The report also highlights the uneven progress in poverty reduction between urban and rural areas during 2016-2018. Overall, these were good years for most rural herders as a result of higher livestock product prices. By contrast, urban residents in the poorest group were most negatively affected. Out of all the consumption classes, only the poorest urban households experienced negative real income growth (-1.0 percent, YoY) during this period due to sluggish wage and business income growth. Higher food price inflation also disproportionately affected urban poor and vulnerable households which spend a majority of income on food and purchase food items out of their own pockets. As a result, the rural poverty rate fell by 4.1 percentage points while the urban poverty rate was little changed from 2016 to 2018.

“This poverty report provides us with the latest updates of poverty status and profile of people in Mongolia and highlights the challenges and opportunities to tackle poverty reduction going forward,” said Ms. A. Ariunzaya, Chairperson of the National Statistics Office. “We strongly hope that the analysis and findings of this report shall serve as reference material not only for policy- and decision-makers, but also for researchers and a diverse range of audiences interested and working in poverty and socio-economic studies.”

The updated poverty profile shows that poverty is most prevalent among low-skilled wage workers, the unemployed and economically inactive individuals, large families and children. Important challenges are also seen in service delivery, particularly with regard to proper sanitation and reliable heating sources.

Mongolia’s education attainment level, particularly among youth, is the highest in the East Asia region, but for women, having a university diploma does not necessarily mean that they can obtain a better-paying job. The gender gap in labor force participation has barely improved over the past decade. Furthermore, despite a great improvement of herders’ welfare level, they remain highly vulnerable to livestock price shocks and harsh winters, which could have a profound impact on their well-being without adequate safety nets.

Mongolia is one of the youngest countries in the region in terms of the demographic structure. To harness the upcoming demographic dividend opportunity for inclusive growth and poverty reduction, the report suggests that the country will need to create a sufficient number of job opportunities in a wide variety of productive sectors in order to absorb these new workers.

“Monitoring and analyzing quality and timely data from the household surveys will help to track progress to date as well as shed light on where support and policy interventions are most needed,” said Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia. “To accelerate poverty reduction and promote shared and sustainable prosperity in Mongolia, investment in children and youth to improve their skillsets to meet labor market needs is crucial, as is promotion of fair and equitable labor force participation for women.”

One new coronavirus case confirmed in Mongolia, total number stands at 11 www.news.mn

At today’s daily press conference of the Ministry of Health on the situations surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, D.Nyamkhuu, Director of the National Center of Communicable Diseases (NCCD) announced that another one person, who is staying under mandatory isolation after arriving in Mongolia on a charter flight from Istanbul Turkey last week, was tested positive for the coronavirus.

Mongolia’s President calls for election postponement www.news.mn

Kh.Battulga, President of Mongolia called yesterday (25 March) to postpone the upcoming parliamentary elections. The President announced a six-point proposal for preparing the Mongolian people for a possible recession because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Kh.Battulga called upon the government to cut all possible spending in order to save money to fight both the COVID-19 outbreak and the coming recession. He also requested that the 2020 State Budget be amended.

Two evacuation flights to be conducted www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ At its regular meeting of the State Emergency Commission (SEC) held today, March 26, it was decided to extend the quarantine period for suspected citizens with infection to 21-28 days in aims of prevention of the novel coronavirus infection. By doing so, isolation period for the citizens arrived on the last four chartered flights is extended by a week.