The Bank of Mongolia (BoM) held its first press conference of the year yesterday to answers to journalists’ questions.
Beginning with data on the past year, the BoM noted that as of the end of December 2016, inflation in Mongolia stood at 1.1 percent nationwide and 0.5 percent in Ulaanbaatar. Rises in the price of meat and vegetables were the main factor for the figure for the capital city. As for interest rate indicators, the weighted average interest rate for MNT loans was at 19.7 percent, savings weighted average interest rate 13.1 percent, policy interest rate 14 percent and inter-bank lending rate 15.5 percent.
According to the BoM, the central bank's securities balance is MNT 578 billion, and foreign exchange auctions amount USD 189 million. Money supply reached MNT 12.075 trillion, which is an increase of MNT 2 trillion from the same period of the previous year.
According to the review of the monetary situation, Mongolia’s foreign trade balance showed a surplus of MNT 1.559 billion at the end of last year, and total export amounted to USD 4.9 million and imports to USD 3.36 million, with China the destination of 79 percent of exports and Russia 1.1 percent.
After the statistical news, the head of the Monetary Policy Department of the BoM answered journalists’ questions. "Monetary policy is determined depending on the current domestic and external economic and market conditions. Therefore, it is not possible for us to predict the conditions of the exchange market. According to the recent economic growth outlook, we will implement the monetary policy towards supporting the economy as the economic growth has declined and inflation is relatively low," said N.Urgamalsuvd regarding monetary policy in 2017.
The BoM says that the US dollar exchange rate has been stable since the beginning of this year due to the increased foreign exchange flows. The pressure on the currency market has decreased with net flows of USD 28 million.
The sharp depreciation of the tugrik last year was due to the activities of currency traders, says the Bom. Therefore, they established a working group tasked with creating domestic market infrastructure, or in other words, a currency market platform. It will take about 1-2 years.
The "Gold-2" programme is one of the works the BoM will carry out in 2017. This programme will be implemented in five areas over two phases: 2017-2018 and 2018- 2020. Last year, 28 tonnes of gold was turned over to the BoM, and it is expected that more gold will be submitted in 2017.
Furthermore, the BoM said that they cannot provide detailed information regarding the extension of the swap agreement with the Chinese government and loan negotiations with the IMF since both negotiations are on-going.
The Bank of Mongolia (BoM) held its first press conference of the year yesterday to answers to journalists’ questions.
Beginning with data on the past year, the BoM noted that as of the end of December 2016, inflation in Mongolia stood at 1.1 percent nationwide and 0.5 percent in Ulaanbaatar. Rises in the price of meat and vegetables were the main factor for the figure for the capital city. As for interest rate indicators, the weighted average interest rate for MNT loans was at 19.7 percent, savings weighted average interest rate 13.1 percent, policy interest rate 14 percent and inter-bank lending rate 15.5 percent.
According to the BoM, the central bank's securities balance is MNT 578 billion, and foreign exchange auctions amount USD 189 million. Money supply reached MNT 12.075 trillion, which is an increase of MNT 2 trillion from the same period of the previous year.
According to the review of the monetary situation, Mongolia’s foreign trade balance showed a surplus of MNT 1.559 billion at the end of last year, and total export amounted to USD 4.9 million and imports to USD 3.36 million, with China the destination of 79 percent of exports and Russia 1.1 percent.
After the statistical news, the head of the Monetary Policy Department of the BoM answered journalists’ questions. "Monetary policy is determined depending on the current domestic and external economic and market conditions. Therefore, it is not possible for us to predict the conditions of the exchange market. According to the recent economic growth outlook, we will implement the monetary policy towards supporting the economy as the economic growth has declined and inflation is relatively low," said N.Urgamalsuvd regarding monetary policy in 2017.
The BoM says that the US dollar exchange rate has been stable since the beginning of this year due to the increased foreign exchange flows. The pressure on the currency market has decreased with net flows of USD 28 million.
The sharp depreciation of the tugrik last year was due to the activities of currency traders, says the Bom. Therefore, they established a working group tasked with creating domestic market infrastructure, or in other words, a currency market platform. It will take about 1-2 years.
The "Gold-2" programme is one of the works the BoM will carry out in 2017. This programme will be implemented in five areas over two phases: 2017-2018 and 2018- 2020. Last year, 28 tonnes of gold was turned over to the BoM, and it is expected that more gold will be submitted in 2017.
Furthermore, the BoM said that they cannot provide detailed information regarding the extension of the swap agreement with the Chinese government and loan negotiations with the IMF since both negotiations are on-going.