A working group from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) is coming to  Mongolia on January 25 on their latest evaluation mission. During the their time in the capital, the government plans to address the thorny issue of  tax increased which has caused a storm of protest and has led some trade unions to start talking about industrial action. Thousands of people are expected to participate in a protest in front of the State Palace on Saturday as anger mounts. The increased income taxes, which came into force on 1 Jan 2018, were imposed as a demand of the IMF. The IMF’s  Extended Fund Facility (EFF) has been implemented in Mongolia for the last three years.

In 2017, the IMF working group visited Ulaanbaatar twice. On 15 December 2017, the fund’s executive board completed the first and second reviews of Mongolia’s performance under the Extended Fund EFF. Under this instrument, Mongolia is able to access the IMF’s reserve assets known as Special Drawing Rights to the value of SDR   55.912 million (approximately USD 79.1 million) over a three-year period; bringing the total IMF disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 83.868 million (approximately USD 118.6 million).