Parliament
Speaker D.Demberel yesterday met two World Bank officials who deal with
Mongolia, Jim Hagan and Claus Roland. Jim Hagan, who was in charge of Mongolia in
the mid-1990s, said Ulaanbaatar has become unrecognizable after 13 years. The
population has grown, certainly leading to new problems but “properly managed
urban growth is a measure of a country’s development,” he said.

Successful
management and regulation of mining income will improve living conditions of
Mongolians and Hagan told the Speaker that the proposed budget revision, raising
expenses, posed risks of inflation and more budget deficit. He urged Demberel
to review the revision and to expedite banking reforms. The World Bank’s directors
cannot hold their board meeting until a decision is taken on the final form of
the budget.

Thanking
the World Bank for its help, Speaker Demberel said the Government and
Parliament understood their responsibility and are working to fulfill the goals
set together by donor institutions and Mongolia. Parliament has established a
working group to study how budget expenses can be reduced. The Government has
been told that the budget deficit should not be more than five percent of GDP. Income
from product price rise is being centralized in risk fund. The Speaker also
revealed that the Government and Parliament are devising ways to ensure that raising
the salary of government employees has as little impact on the budget as possible.