Archive
CRS — Mongolia: Issues for Congress
Mongolia: Issues for Congress (PDF)
Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists)
Mongolia is a sparsely populated young democracy in a remote part of Asia, sandwiched between two powerful large neighbors, China and Russia. It made its transition to democracy peacefully in 1990, after nearly 70 years as a Soviet satellite state. Congress has shown a strong interest in Mongolia’s development since, through the funding of assistance programs, ratification of a bilateral investment treaty, legislation to extend permanent normal trade relations, and passage of six resolutions commending Mongolia’s progress and supporting strong U.S.-Mongolia relations. Mongolia’s president, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, is scheduled to visit the White House and Capitol Hill on June 16, 2011.
Congressional interest is Mongolia has been strong in large part because of the country’s story of democratic development. Since passing a democratic constitution in 1992, Mongolia has held five direct presidential elections and five direct parliamentary elections. The State Department credits Mongolia’s current government with “generally respect[ing]” freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association. Mongolia’s democracy has sometimes been chaotic, however, and the 2008 parliamentary election was marred by violence that claimed five lives. Corruption is a mounting concern for many observers.
On the economic front, a mining boom is predicted to make Mongolia’s economy the fastest growing in the world by 2013. (The World Bank’s annual GDP growth rate projection for Mongolia in 2013 is 22.9%.) Mongolia’s mineral wealth, including significant reserves of coal, copper, gold, and uranium, offers investment opportunities for American companies. The U.S. Embassy in Mongolia has, however, raised concerns about Mongolia’s investment climate, which it sees as non-transparent, unpredictable, and potentially “expropriatory.” The United States and Mongolia are negotiating a transparency agreement that could address some U.S. concerns.
To balance the influence of its two large neighbors, China and Russia, Mongolia has embraced an active foreign policy designed to raise its international profile and win it the support of friends far from its borders. It was among the first nations to join the coalition for the Iraq War, deploying troops in Iraq from 2003 to 2008. Its troops have been deployed in Afghanistan since 2003.
Mongolia is an active participant in many international organizations, in which it often supports U.S. positions. In 1992, Mongolia declared itself a single-state nuclear-weapons-free zone; establishing the zone in international law has been a major goal of Mongolia’s foreign policy. China has emerged as Mongolia’s largest trading partner and foreign investor, although each country remains wary of the other. Russia is Mongolia’s largest source of energy products, and is cooperating with Mongolia in development of Mongolia’s uranium reserves. To ensure its continued independence and sovereignty, Mongolia has also prioritized the development of relations with so-called “third neighbors,” countries that do not border Mongolia, but have close ties to Mongolia. That list includes the United States, Japan, Korea, Germany, and India.
This report is divided into three main sections. The first discusses Mongolia’s democratic development. The second discusses economic issues, and the third discusses Mongolia’s engagement with the world. Appendix A lists major legislation related to Mongolia from the 102nd Congress to the present. Appendix B lists the outcomes of Mongolia’s five direct presidential elections and five direct parliamentary elections to date. The report also includes a map of Mongolia showing major railways and the location of significant mineral deposits.
Mongolia: Financial System Stability Assessment
Mongolia: Financial System Stability Assessment (PDF)
Source: International Monetary Fund
The main findings of the assessment were:
- The authorities are making progress in restructuring the banking sector. Besides placing under conservatorship two state-owned banks, the authorities have also tightened prudential regulations on asset classification and loss provisions.
- The banking system is heavily exposed to several risks. A number of mid-sized banks have yet to conform to minimum capital requirements while high concentrations in banks’ loan portfolios as well as cross-ownership linkages between banks and industrial companies facilitate related party lending. In addition, banks are exposed to interest and exchange rate risks due to maturity mismatches and unhedged foreign currency lending.
- The Bank of Mongolia permits regulatory forbearance. Strict enforcement of regulatory requirements is lacking and minimal effort has been made to move toward risk-based and forward-looking supervision. Compliance-based supervision continues to be the norm.
- The blanket deposit guarantee continues to provide generous coverage and needs to be replaced by a well-designed deposit insurance scheme.
Country Specific Information: Mongolia
Country Specific Information: Mongolia
Source: U.S. Department of State
Mongolia is a vast country of mountains, lakes, deserts, and grasslands. It is approximately the size of Alaska. Since 1990 Mongolia has been successfully transitioning into a parliamentary democracy. Economic reforms continue, although the country’s development will depend on considerable infrastructure investment, particularly in the mining, energy, transportation, and communication sectors. You should be aware that shortcomings in these areas could affect your travel plans. Please read the Department of State’s Background Notes on Mongolia for additional information.
Mongolia: Measuring the Output Gap
Mongolia: Measuring the Output Gap
Source: International Monetary Fund
This paper compares the output gap estimates for Mongolia based on a number of different methods. Special attention is paid to the substantial role of mining in the Mongolian economy. We find that a Blanchard and Quah-type joint model of output and inflation provides a more robust estimate of the output gap for Mongolia than the traditional statistical decompositions.
+ Full Paper (PDF)
Mongolia: Country Specific Information
Mongolia: Country Specific Information
Source: U.S. Department of State
Mongolia is a vast country of mountains, lakes, deserts, and grasslands. It is approximately the size of Alaska. Since 1990 Mongolia has been successfully transitioning into a parliamentary democracy. Economic reforms continue, although the country’s development will depend on considerable infrastructure investment, particularly in the mining, energy, transportation, and communication sectors. You should be aware that shortcomings in these areas could affect your travel plans. Please read the Department of State’s Background Notes on Mongolia for additional information.
