The exchange rate of Mongolia’s national currency, the tugrik, against the the US dollar weakened by 8.4 percent, and against the Chinese yuan by 3.8 percent year-on-year in 2018, official data has revealed.

According to statistics, at the end of 2018, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the tugrik stood at 2,637.35, while one yuan was 383.03 tugriks.

The tugrik’s depreciation was directly caused by higher imports which led to an outflow of foreign currencies, the statistics office said, adding that the value of Mongolia’s total imports amounted to 5.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, up 35.5 percent on the previous year.

So far this year, the US dollar and the yuan have been maintaining their strength against the tugrik.