No One Wants An Increase in Fuel Prices

By E.OYUNDARI

There is one thing that thoroughly scares Mongolians, especially its humble citizens: rising prices. The fear has been awakened, since Parliament has been discussing the draft of the 2016 state budget and the Finance Ministry has been brainstorming on where to find money, demanding that customs and taxation offices find money. These solutions impact the basic prices of everything in the marketplace, making our daily lives even more difficult.

Since the end of 2014, oil prices started dropping in the global market, however, that change didn't apply to us. We wondered why, but the lawmakers explained that even though oil prices were low in foreign countries, it was still expensive due to currency exchange rates.

They also explained that fuel prices didn't go up thanks to the implementation of a program to stabilize them, a program carried out by the government and Mongol Bank. Many people stopped complaining, and instead of expecting fuel prices to drop, they seemed satisfied that the prices had not gone up. But now, the program to stabilize oil prices won't be able to keep people satisfied.

Parliament approved the Law on Excise Taxes on June 29, 2015, stating that excise taxes will be set differently, depending on the ports that fuel and diesel are brought through.

Excise tax of up to 217,000 MNT can imposed on a ton of A-92 petrol and up to 221,000 MNT is taken per ton of diesel brought through the Tsagaannuur, Yarant, Borshoo, Burgastai and Bichigt ports. Taxes of up to 229,000 MNT are taken per ton of A-92 petrol and 226,000 MNT per ton of diesel fuel brought through the Khankh and Uliankhar ports. Excise tax of up to 252,000 MNT is taken per ton of A-92 and up to 265,000 MNT is taken from a ton of diesel fuel imported through Sukhbaatar, Zamyn-Uud, Ereentsev, or Altanbulag.

However, the Cabinet has developed a plan to generate revenue by increasing the highest limit of customs and excise taxes for petrol and fuel. The plan aims to increase tax limit on A-80 petrol brought through the Sukhbaatar, Zamyn-Uud and Altanbulag ports by 200,000 MNT, making it up to 452,000 MNT...