The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors
has approved a USD12 million credit, among other things, to help Mongolia
improve and manage social protection systems for the poor. The Mongolia
Multi-sector Technical Assistance (MSTA) project aims to support the government’s efforts to build its capacity for
policy making and regulation in the fiscal, social and financial sectors.

 The global
financial crisis “highlighted the need for policy reforms
– especially in terms of policies to protect the country’s poorest people from
the boom and bust cycles typical of economies that depend on mineral exports”
said Arshad Sayed, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia “The challenge now is
to turn the crisis into opportunity. The MSTA project aims to build the
capacity needed to achieve this.”

Policy
reforms include adopting an appropriate fiscal framework, improving the budget
process and the planning and management of public investments, and implementing
a targeted poverty benefit. Other key reforms are to prepare the banking sector
for the upturn in economic activity, investment and capital inflows in the
years ahead.

“The
MSTA will assist Mongolia to successfully manage the upcoming mining boom and
any bust that may follow,” said Rogier van den Brink, World Bank Lead Economist and the Task Team Leader for the
project.