Mongolian Labor Union President S.Ganbaatar told a press conference yesterday that the Government should hold talks with it and the Employers Union urgently on raising salaries. He demanded minimum wages to be fixed at MNT216,000.

Rejecting the official figure of 35.2 percent poverty rate, he said a survey by his union has found 60 percent of Mongolia’s population today falls in the “poor” category. Their basic expenses are more than what they earn. Since 70 percent of Mongolian households depend on salaries and pensions, the minimum rates for both have to be raised to give people a better life. This Government, he said, has ignored the law that says minimum wages must be revised once or twice every year.  

Ganbaatar then answered questions.

There are worries about inflation as MNT 1.5 million promised by the Government enters the economy. Won’t the salary increase add to it? Have you considered that price rise can nullify the gains of a rise in income?

That is the excuse given by the Government for the past three years. The economy can well absorb whatever more will enter it. We already have MNT 7.1 trillion in circulation. MNT 1.3 trillion is spent on officials, while another MNT2 trillion goes on works executed by tender. We want diverting the money used for the oligarchs to be given as salaries, and do not plan to add anything new to the MNT7.1 trillion. Let us have a public debate on whether this is possible. We are not talking about only salaries of teachers or doctors that are paid by the State. We are concerned about the salaries in private organizations also.

How much money is needed to increase salaries and pensions?

We think MNT 336 billion will be needed. This is not really much in a country and the Government can surely find this if it has the will. The Ministry for Social Care and Labor has been talking about raising salaries by 20 percent. Such sops cannot  keep people’s mouths shut.