Mongolia

The authorities declared the state of high alert on February 13 and quickly implemented a broad range of measures including a travel ban from high-risk countries, temporary suspension of coal exports to China, social distancing, public events cancellations and school and university closures.

Click here to see a comprehensive summary of jurisdictional tax measures and government reliefs in response to COVID-19.

Monetary and macro-financial

On March 11, the Bank of Mongolia (BOM)

• reduced the policy rate by 100 bps to 10 percent;
• reduced the MNT reserve requirement of banks by 200 basis points to 8.5 percent; and 
• narrowed the policy rate corridor to ±1 percent. The lower reserve requirement released MNT 324 billion (0.8 percent of GDP) of additional liquidity in the banking system. 

On March 18, the BOM and the Financial Regulatory Commission implemented temporary financial forbearance measures on prudential requirements, loan classifications, and restructuring standards.

On April 13, the BOM:

• cut the policy rate by 100 bps to 9 percent and 
• allowed existing consumption loan borrowers to defer their principal and interest payments by up to 12 months.

Exchange rate and balance of payments
In line with the closure of border to China, most mineral exports to China, accounting for about 90 percent of total exports, have been suspended since February 10, though coal exports started to gradually resume on March 15.

• International monetary fund