The State Great Khural (parliament) held its third discussion of the 2018 State Budget bill, which was presented by Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh, on 10 November. During the break, Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh invited some MPs for a meeting at 4.00 p.m.

Tobacco and alcohol taxes are to gradually increase by 10% in 2018, 5% in 2019 and 5% in 2020. This is one of eight fiscal policy actions to be undertaken by the Government of Mongolia (GoM) under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility programme.

ITools Company’s initial public offering set a record of MNT 4 billion on the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) after the closure of today’s trading (10 November).

A young Mongolian woman, who is an Olympic bronze medalist judoka, has been named as one of Kazakhstan’s best athletes. The star in question is Asian champion G.Otgontsetseg, aged 24, who took bronze at the Rio Olympics representing Kazakhstan.

The Mongolian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has held a drill to train officers in evacuating civilians to safety in the event of an earthquake. The two-day exercise took place in Dornogobi, which is a province in the south of Mongolia.

In 2017, Mongolia had been planning to export a total of 11.5 million tonnes of coal to China; however, coal export has slowed due to the limited capacity at the border crossing on the Chinese border; this has resulted in queues of almost 100 km.

The World Bank has approved credit to Mongolia aimed at promoting employment worth USD 25 million. Using this loan, the country will implement job creation projects providing new opportunities for people to start and grow sustainable micro-enterprises.

Annual Model UNESCO Mongolia conference will be held on 18th of November. The conference is being organized by the United Nations Youth Advisory Panel in partnership with Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO and UNESCO Beijing Office.

The Mongolian under 19 football team has defeated Singapore 4:2 at a qualifying competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship. The young Mongolian footballers won their last match in the division on 8 November.

Earlier today, 9 November, the Mongolian State Great Khural (parliament) overruled the Presidential veto on the 2017 budget amendment. A total of 85 percent of the MP’s present in the chamber backed the decision of the two standing committees to reject the veto. President Kh.Battulga fully vetoed amendments to the bills on the 2017 State Budget and the Social Insurance Fund which had been approved by parliament.