Prime Minister Gives An Official Statement on Mongolia's Debt

By E.OYUNDARI

During Friday's regular Parliamentary session meeting, Prime Minister Ch.Saikhanbileg gave an official statement on the current state of Mongolia's foreign and internal debt. The PM said the statement was being made to provide accurate information to a misinformed public about the country's debt.

PM Ch.Saikhanbileg said, "Under the Law on the Government of Mongolia, the Law on State Budget, and the Law on Debt Management, the Finance Ministry has obligations to register statistical information about the government's debt and to report on it. "In accordance with the law on the Central Bank, Mongol Bank is in charge of registering and reporting the statistics of the external sector of Mongolia, or the statistical information and debt registration of government, the private sector, and banks. "Fulfilling its obligation under the law, the Finance Ministry issues an annual report on governmental debt, and Mongol Bank hosts the registration of Mongolia's internal and external debt registration and issues annual and quarterly reports. These reports are uploaded on the websites of Mongol Bank and the Finance Ministry and are accessible and open to the public. Therefore, I want political parties, politicians, researchers, and interested citizens to get debt information from these official sources to avoid having off-balance concepts and understanding about debt.

"The World Bank annually issues a report on detailed statistical information about the world's countries. Its last edition included statistical information about external and internal debts as of the end of 2014.

"The Finance Ministry has delivered statistical information on the government's debt as of the end of 2015 to all parliamentary members. I hope you all reviewed the official report. The report, issued from the Finance Ministry, was developed in accordance with financial registration methods offered by the International Monetary Fund.

"The statistical information on Mongolia's total debt includes direct foreign investments and loans between companies. As of the end of 2015, Mongolia's total debt reached 21.6 billion USD, whereas 4.9 billion of it, or 22.9 percent, is debt taken on by the government.

"The government does not bear any financial obligation for foreign investments and loans issued to the...