On October 28, the Government of Mongolia and the World Bank will host a forum on economic policy in Ulaanbaatar. In connection with this, WB Permanent Representative in Mongolia Arshad Saeed gave interview to the "Onoodor" daily.

"Current economic situation in Mongolia is good", said Mr. Saeed when assessing it. In recent years, the economic growth has been at approximately nine percent influenced by high prices of raw materials, including copper, on the world market. During this period, the mining, construction, and retail trade industries developed well. As of March 2008, an average size of salaries increased by 62 percent in all spheres. However, the inflation rate reached 32 percent due to price rises in particular. Therefore, the reduction of the inflation rate is becoming the most urgent issue.
Talking about impacts of the financial instability in the world, Mr. Saeed noted that a volume of foreign investments will decrease firstly. Amounts of remittances by Mongolians working abroad tend to reduce. This is about USD 200 million a year. Due to the decrease in copper prices, state incomes will reduce either.
As for the law on minerals, A.Saeed underlined that both foreign and domestic investments dimension should be maintained favorable. In addition, incomes should be distributed to the vulnerable strata effectively, he pointed out.
As regards the upcoming forum, there are many issues included in its agenda. The forum will join skilful economists from many countries. It is of importance to exchange knowledge and information. Several debates will run during the forum, particularly on the economy, development and inflation in Mongolia. Here, Mr. Saeed expressed his confidence that the upcoming forum will be effective.

 

Source: Montsame