PRESIDENT BATTULGA VETOES 2021 STATE BUDGET BILL AND APPROPRIATION BILLS
The notifying letter was submitted to Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of the State Great Khural of Mongolia G.Zandanshatar, yesterday.
The State Budget Bill for the fiscal year of 2021 was adopted at the State Great Khural’s plenary session of November 13th along with its appropriation bills, and was submitted to the President on November 18th, 2020.
The final readings of the State Budget Bill for 2021 coincided with the days, when Mongolia recorded its first domestic transmissions of COVID-19, which has been turning the people’s lives upside down and bringing with itself greater risks for the country’s economy.
However, the approved State Budget for 2021 is unfit for the current circumstances, given that the bill does not eliminate prodigal spending by setting strict criteria for cashflow and investment expenditure, and does not reflect realistic and versatile analysis of the national and global economic conditions, the President views.
For instance, the crucial issue of procurement of vaccines has been overlooked by the Members of Parliament, who are clearly aware of the fact that this is a matter of protecting the people’s lives and wellbeing. The procurement of vaccines has not been reflected in the State Budget Bill, with vague hope for foreign assistance, says the President.
Hence, President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga deems necessary that the following changes to be included in the 2021 State Budget Law:
- To cut total budget expenditure by 20 percent, and set up an emergency fund designed for overcoming problems and challenges;
- To develop a program on providing 1.0 million MNT assistance per household, consisting of 200,000 MNT as cash and 800,000 MNT as vouchers for food items produced by only national companies;
- To spend a certain amount of money saved from budget cuts for procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and protect the population’s health; and
- To develop a master plan to support enterprises, companies and businesses, and to carry out policy to pay particular attention on small and medium sized enterprises and self-employed individuals with irregular income, such as hairdressers, carpenters, taxi drivers, etc.
Considering that a necessity has arisen to accomplish these objectives, President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga has imposed a veto on the entire 2021 State Budget Bill and appropriation bills, in compliance with the Article 33.1.1 of the Constitution of Mongolia and Article 12.8 of the Law on President of Mongolia.