Increasing inflow of foreign currency and the consequent strengthening...

“Increasing inflow of foreign currency and the consequent strengthening of the MNT can be generally bad for exports but I am confident the Government is aware of this potential problem, and will adopt measures that have proved effective elsewhere. Strong fiscal discipline and sound monetary policy will help manage the forces of growth and inflation, despite the currency appreciation.”

Randolph Koppa, President of Trade & Development Bank.

“The oil law will be amended to make it mandatory to allocate a certain percentage of the income from oil extraction for the development of local communities. My idea is that 20% of the revenue could go to the budget of the province where the extraction is made and another 10% to that of the specific soum. The oil law we adopted in 1991 is actually one of the best in the world, but the changing demands of the developing economy do make some changes necessary.”

D.Amarsaikhan, head of the Petroleum Authority. 

“Mongolia‘s successes during the past 20 years of independence from the former Soviet Union also included mistakes. But we usually learn from our mistakes, and we share those mistakes and the lessons from them with others.”

Ts. Elbegdorj, President.

“There is no statutory protection for the Development Bank’s independence from political interference and Government pressure. The law categorically states that the bank ‘shall provide funds for projects approved by the Government’. This is a clear indication that it will work as an adjunct of the Government. By the nature of things, Parliament will approve projects that political parties prefer for their apparent social impact, even when they are of suspect economic value. By failing to support me, my fellow MPs showed they do not mind their words and actions being at variance.”

Ch.Ulaan, MPP MP and a major shareholder in the erstwhile Zoos Bank.

“Human welfare is the ultimate goal of development and Mongolia’s economic success would be judged by how much it improved its citizens’ life. For this, we should first improve governance. This can be done by putting in place the right mechanism, by a proper division of power and by a clear demarcation of political parties’ rights and responsibilities. Citizens’ participation has to be encouraged.”

S.Batbold, Prime Minister.

“Large government spending is creating excess demand that will result in higher inflation and surging imports. Inflation rate could reach some 20 percent by year-end.”

P.Ramlogan, the IMF’s resident representative in Mongolia.

“We need to be cautious because of the pressure on the MNT from rising foreign direct investment and revenue from commodity exports. To find ways to mitigate that risk the government will issue MNT-denominated bonds locally. To manage the economy, we need to steer the economy, we need to be in control.”

Ch. Gankhuyag, Deputy Minister of Finance.

“The decision to export through Russia makes geopolitical sense as Mongolia seeks to diversify its reliance on export to China. But the pertinent question that needs to be asked as always is: at what cost? If Mongolia’s pursuit of a Third Neighbour strategy is the rationale for this self-imposed handicap, it is a strategy that pushes it further into the arms of its former imperial master, Russia, and the assessment that Mongolia’s national strategy is often a depressing choice between the lesser of two evils still stands.”

Justin Li, Principal of the Institute of Chinese
Economics and an associate of East Asia Forum.

“Mongolia’s economy is overwhelmingly based on resource extraction. It is therefore a prime candidate for the natural resource curse. Unlike most of the other central Asian countries, however, Mongolia has thus far avoided the lure of personalized autocracy or strong-man rule, and the bureaucracy, although weak, is some distance from the kleptocratic end of the ‘kleptocratic-technocratic’ continuum.”

A Citigroup report.

“The sky is the limit in terms of what Mongolia might accomplish, if it works together as a society and makes wise decisions about the future. As a resource rich economy, Mongolia must realize the importance of transparency, accountability and ‘checks and balances’, and of the value of significant investments in education.  And, perhaps more than anything, the importance of ‘good governance’ in all its many forms.”

Jonathan Addleton, U.S. Ambassador.

“That so many global banks vied to win the coveted mandate for the Tavan Tolgoi IPO shows the project is quite competitive and that Mongolia as a mining destination is becoming more and more attractive. Tavan Tolgoi will take Mongolia to the next level as a coal producer. We will become one of the price setting producers in the region.”

D. Zorigt, Minerals Resources and Energy Minister.

“If Chinese state-owned Chinalco wanted to take a stake in the Oyu Tolgoi project, its role would have to be approved by the Mongolian government. Chinese investment in Mongolia is welcome, but any change in the Oyu Tolgoi partnership agreement between Mongolia, Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines would have to go through government approval procedures.”

S.Batbold, Prime Minister.

‘’We’re spending about USD7 million a day, which is kind of awesome. This decade is going to be a great decade, great demand and [with] supply struggling to keep up. And from everything I see, the following decade is going to be much the same. It will take much more than another Oyu Tolgoi coming on to satisfy that demand.’’

Andrew Harding, head of Rio Tinto’s copper division who is overseeing the
Oyu Tolgoi project.

‘’We need to shovel coal across the border and turn Mongolia’s 2.7 million people into dollar millionaires. If we really want double digit growth from this year, then we need to continue educating people and policy makers about the dangers of resource dependency. And to use the resources, the country first needs to unlock its infrastructure bottlenecks.”

Ch.Gankhuyag, Deputy Minister for Finance.

I suspect there is a foreigners’ lobby behind the move to revoke the law banning all operations near river basins and forest areas. A perception has been sought to be created that the law aims at stopping all mining operations in Mongolia, which is not true. It is no more than an essential environmental protection law that very rightly restricts mining operating only in areas where they destroy the balance of the ecology. Several foreign companies’ hard work toward a repeal of the law has now borne fruit with some members of Parliament initiating an amendment to the law, possibly with the Government’s blessings. None of the MPs behind the amendment voted against the law when it was passed. They have not explained why they have veered round to a stand that appears to favour the interests of foreign miners.”

B.Bat-Erdene, MPP MP.