2018 state BUDGET APPROVED
On November 14, Parliament finalized the 2018 state budget, the 2018 budget for the Social Insurance Fund, and the 2018 budget of the Health Insurance Fund with 86.6 percent approval from 53 legislators in attendance.
After Parliament approved the budget, Speaker of Parliament M.Enkhbold stated that the government has targeted a 4.2 percent GDP growth in 2018, with revenue expected to reach 7.2 trillion MNT, which is an increase of 1.4 trillion MNT compared to 2016. The state budget expenditure is projected to reach 9.6 trillion MNT, an increase of 1.56 trillion MNT since last year, and the fiscal deficit stood at 9.5 percent of GDP or 2.4 trillion MNT, which is a decrease of 34 percent compared to 2016.
As outlined in the 2018 budget, starting January, all nursing mothers taking care of their children between the ages of zero and three at home are eligible to receive a monthly welfare of 50,000 MNT from the state, single mothers and fathers who have three or more children between the ages of zero and 18 will receive a state welfare of 240,000 MNT every season. The welfares require 72.8 billion MNT from the state budget.
According to next year’s budget, 80 percent of children in Mongolia will receive the monthly child money allowance of 20,000 MNT, and 136.9 billion MNT will be allocated for pension increases.
The government will allocate 1.6 billion MNT to build 82 public schools and 127 kindergartens across Mongolia, and to improve learning environment by reducing the number of schools that operate in three shifts next year.
The budget includes an 893.1 billion MNT funding for improving the health sector’s services throughout the country, especially the capacity of hospitals in soums and khoroos. The funding will also be used to reform medical financial system, and finance the Eleg Buten Mongol Program against the prevalence of hepatitis C virus.
In 2018, herders, self-employed individuals, and unemployed people will receive a 50 percent subsidy for health insurance fees from the Health Insurance Fund.
Financing of the project on the renovation of the Central Waste Water Treatment Plant was included in the 2018 state budget.
Some 36 billion MNT is expected to be generated from purchase of mining licenses and land ownership fees in 2018.
Minister of Finance Ch.Khurelbaatar noted that the 2018 budget allocates 147.5 billion MNT for rural development, approximately seven billion MNT for each province. He underlined that this budget will focus on improving rural development through the creation of jobs and improvement of economic capacity of provinces.
The Finance Minister stated that the government will refrain from issuing bonds with high interest rates, and optimize fiscal, monetary and debt management. He added that the government will focus on megaprojects beneficial to the economy and develop a favorable tax policy for local and international entrepreneurs.
Minister Ch.Khurelbaatar emphasized that the 2018 state budget drafted by the Ministry of Finance with consultation of the International Monetary Fund’s extended fund facility program will support the government’s plan to cut deficit to 4.5 percent of GDP by 2020.