According to the Bloomberg’s economists club, inflation rate may be kept close to the Central Bank’s target rate of around 8 percent. For example, most analysts estimate that inflation will be around 7 percent in the first quarter of this year. In the full year, inflation is predicted to be a single-digit number. Although the inflation rate of Mongolia accelerated and got closer to the target in 2017, the Bank of Mongolia believes that the monetary policy will stabilize the inflation rate. Inflation rate reached 6.9 percent in January as excise taxes on some products, such as tobacco and fuel. Inflation rate has reached the target of 8 percent in Ulaanbaatar, according to the National Statistical Office. The prices of apartments, water, electricity and fuel rose 16.7 percent, the prices of transportation increased by 24.3 percent, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco rose 9.1 percent. In January of this year, 34.1 percent of the consumer basket’s goods and services increased by 31.1 percent from the previous month. The price of 51 of the 100 selected food products has risen. The Central Bank believes that an improvement in concentration of metals in copper and a rise of investment in the non-mineral sector will boost Mongolian economic growth in 2018. It is also expected that foreign investment, which has been slowing down in recent years, is likely to increase. For example, the Governor of the BOM reported that approximately USD 1 billion is expected to come into the economy in 2018.

Source: BloombergTV.mn