{"id":6975,"slug":"speech-by-president-khaltmaagiin-battulga-at-the-opening-of-autumn-session-of-the-state-great-khural","status":"publish","tags":[],"title":{"rendered":"SPEECH BY PRESIDENT KHALTMAAGIIN BATTULGA AT THE OPENING OF AUTUMN SESSION OF THE STATE GREAT KHURAL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Esteemed Members of Parliament,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaker of Parliament, <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister<\/strong>,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Autumn session of the State Great Khural, formed as results of the 2020 elections, is opening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nyear 2020, when the world faced a substantial challenge it has never before\ncome across, is coming to an end. The responsibility of adopting the next\nyear\u2019s budget awaits You. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nspread of coronavirus has left no country out. For the past nine months, Mongolia\nhas been pushing all its limits to contain the virus from spreading internally.\nI would like thank the thousands of workers and service people in healthcare,\nemergency management, law enforcement and border protection. The main damage\ndone by the pandemic to the country\u2019s economy is the loss of revenue from\nexports. The volume and scale of the expected second wave of the pandemic is\nstill unclear. It is clear, however, that we must not lose caution, while also\nmake optimal policies and decisions in order to revive the economy and regain\nthe export revenue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My part\nin the opening of the new Parliament\u2019s autumn session aims specifically to\nremind You that special attention should be paid to overcoming economic constraints\nand approve deficit-free state budget.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have\ntoured through most of the provinces before the autumn session and held\nmeetings with more than 7,000 citizens, and listened to their opinions.\nSituations have gotten critical in localities. Dry summer and drought are going\nto cause harsh wintering condition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animal-origin\nproducts, which are the main source of income for herders, are devalued to the\npoint where tons of wealth is dumped as garbage. As some of You might observe,\nthe socio-economic condition in western region is worse than that of eastern\nregion, and that there are noticeable differences. This big a gap within one\ncountry and unified nation is a call for integrated state policy. The rural areas are in serious need for equal\ntreatment and balanced growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a\nproven fact that fundamentals of growth are created by 5-10 years of consistent\nand comprehensive development of industrial complexes, specified in the right\ndirections and placed in the right locations, with necessary infrastructure and\ndesirable services and amenities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is\na practice implemented even in Mongolia. The first example can be Darkhan,\nwhere Sharyn Gol Industrial Complex was planned comprehensively in 1961 to be\ncommissioned along with Darkhan railway station and Sharyn Gol coal mine. The\nplan also included operation of Darkhan \niron ore processing plant. Darkhan Thermal Power Plant, Cement and Lime\nPlant, Housing complex, medical center, school and mall. The industrial complex\ncomprised of Darkhan TPP, Darkhan Cement and Lime Plant, Steel Plant, Lime\nProcessing Plant, Sheepskin Factory, meat factory, geology and exploration\nexpedition, fruit and vegetable farm, food factory and related infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsecond major industrial complex is the City of Erdenet. The mineral resources\nwere discovered in fall of 1964 by a\nteam geologists. Between 1973 and 1978, open pit mine, concentrate plant, thermal\npower plant, cement and concrete plant, building metal structure fabrication\nunit, a 1.0 million cubemeter pond, 174 km long railroad, 164 km long roadway,\n420 km long overhead transmission lines, 64 km water pipelines, a carpet\nfactory, food factory and related developments including schools,\nkindergartens, trade and service centers, and four apartment complexes with\ncapacity of 15,000 residents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npurpose of mentioning all of the above is that, in the past several years, we\ncould not commission one small-scale industrial complex, let alone a full-sized\none. In turn, the country has gotten prone to relying on imports, international\ncredits and assistances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budgetary\ndiscipline has disappeared, and the local administrations have been misbehaving\nbeyond tolerance. They continue allocating the budget to unnecessary and\nimproper matters, as though they have no idea what\u2019s important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am\nhighlighting Orkhon aimag for this case. The gate of Erdenet\u2019s park alone cost\n140 million tugrugs. The residents are truly upset about this issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget\nis not being taken seriously enough. Taxpayers\u2019 money cannot be wasted\nrecklessly. Personally, I think this is an aftermath of bandwagoning in the\nabsence of opposition, in decisionmaking. \nDue to insufficient number of workplaces in soums, the urban migration\nhave been surging, as the lands are left unmanned. The remote regions are in\ndire need for demographic policy. Constant jobs can easily be created with the\nunfathomable opportunities offered by the processing industry of animal-origin\nproducts coming from the five types of livestock. In this regard, activating\nthe commissioning of Darkhan Leather and Wool Complex, accelerating the\nconstruction, and ensuring possibilities to sell and purchase animal-origin raw\nmaterials in rural areas should be prioritized in the budget planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nordinary citizens want jobs, not benefits. To tell You an example, Ms.\nBaigalmaa, a resident of Bayankhongor province said, \u201cNormally, any country\u2019s\ncitizens are provided with workplaces, pay taxes and the country develops. It\nis a global practice. However, in the recent days, growth is viewed by the\nvolume of donations, assistances, welfare, road and housing constructions. I am\nseriously concerned. Why is it that the Government does not provide jobs and\nthen build things that are not useful to the citizens? If the citizens are\nemployed, then those developments can be easily built, with or without Government\u2019s\nguidance\u201d. This should be heard by the local administrators, who should be\nashamed. How is it possible to keep leaders who are less thoughtful than their\nresidents? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To be\nhonest, distinguished members of Parliament, You have the power to solve all\nthese problems. Just over a month ago, a deficit of 4.8 trillion tugrugs were\nreflected in the state budget. Your indifference towards the state budget\nreveals itself in local administrations as there is merely a competition who\ncan best waste the budget funds allocated for the region. Budget deficit is\ndebt! It is not going anywhere. It is paid only by the taxpayers. The deficit you\ncreated is paid from their pockets. The other option is to take out foreign credits.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now You\nare to read and approve the budget for 2021. Is there going to be more deficit,\nif I may ask? Each year over the past four years, when MPP ruled, the state\nbudget has always been approved with deficit in values more than 2.0 trillion\ntugrugs. Is any of You, esteemed MPs, concerned for such accumulation of debt?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\nmany more years is Mongolia going to get by on foreign credits and aid? What is\nthe reason for the Parliament to not bat an eye when it comes to acquiring\nexport revenues? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind\nall obstacles, and heap of pressing issues, there is the insufficient amount of\nrevenue. We need revenues, more revenues than ever acquired. We need projects\nthat will not only bring stable growth, but to kick-start the growth engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s\nput an order to the issues we prioritize! The most important issue is the\nexport revenues. Our country has what it takes, the resources and\nopportunities. There are almost 80 million heads of livestock grazing. It is\nout fault that the benefits are not reaped, but thrown away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I once\nagain ask You to focus on increasing people\u2019s incomes first, before you deal\nwith all the polarizations and sensations.  Harsh winter awaits. International financial\norganizations have warned us of shrink in the economy. There are better things\nto discuss than the patterns on Deel, packaging of alcohol, and the Cambridge curriculum.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead\nof celebrating the \u201csuccess\u201d of debt financing to settle debts, please work on\nopening doors from income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\nthe high time for our nation to rethink the approaches, solutions and choices\nwe have been making to this point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n2017, a veto had been put due to the Government\u2019s non-compliance with the\nBudget law, but the majority denied the veto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An\ninitiative had been presented to the Parliament and the Cabinet in 2018. If\nimplemented, the initiative could save a total of 1.4 trillion tugrugs (about USD\n500 million) from the state budget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the budgeted expenditure\nhad been trimmed down to not run budget deficit, the 100 billion tugrugs as\nindicated in the Article 11 of the Budget Law would have been saved, and 408\nbillion tugrugs as indicated in the Article 12 of the Budget Law would have been\nkept while 2.5 trillion tugrugs as in the Article 13 of the Budget Law would\nnot have been accumulated as Government\u2019s debt. I am deeply regretful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The general budget for\n2019 was approved with projected deficit of 1.9 trillion tugrugs. Many members\nof the Parliament talk about its non-compliance with the Law on Budget Stability\nand certain articles in the Budget law. Five to eight billion tugrugs were allocated\nfrom the Government budget to constituencies represented by Parliament members,\nseemingly corruption, and a large number of construction projects without any\ndesigns were proposed in the budget. The budget also contained significant\nerrors and violations, such as lack of planning for reserve currency and\nschedule for repayment, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The general budget for\n2020 have also failed to reflect public interests wholly, having too much\nspending and unrealistic incomes. The veto imposed on the budget had been\nrejected. Since March this year, the Parliament and the Government have been\nrepeatedly notified about the urgent need to make amendments to the budget, and\nsuggestions and demand have been forwarded to cut inessential expenses from the\nbudget of 2020. Even so, no changes have been made to the budget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economists, scholars and researchers, the civil society and political parties had all been urging to revise the budget. However, budget amendments were approved with total deficit of 4.7 trillion tugrugs only last month. Suffering from the consequences of budget irresponsibility, Mongolia has produced 1.7 trillion tugrugs of debts only within a year, which already exceed the Chingis sovereign bond! There is other way than re-financing this loss with the help of another debt. But the debt ceiling has been reached. Should we now immediately stop pursuing the policy to generate more budget losses leading the country to go bankrupt, I must firmly remind you to that the population is on the verge of turning into a victim of your foolishness. I am calling your attention on that you must solve following problems in the country\u2019s general budget for the next year. Take these into consideration during the budgetary debates, if you please. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Setting strict criteria\n for \u201cessential\u201d operating and capital budget expenditures, abolishing prodigal\n budget spending, reducing budget expenditure drastically to have no\n deficits; <\/li>
  • On the grounds of\n budgetary savings and benefits, designating sufficient funding for\n building industrial complexes to manufacture non-mining export products of\n livestock animal origin based on the agricultural industry;<\/li>
  • Earmarking enough funding\n necessary for intensifying and completing some railway developments with\n high significance for export growth and economic expansion; <\/li>
  • Having a complex\n approach to planning of policy and measures in order to increase budget\n revenues and expand the economy. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    I will be presenting my own suggestions and conclusion on the package Law\non Courts, which is included in the agenda of the Parliament\u2019s autumn regular\nsession for discussion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Last but not least, I\nwould like to sum up the single message forwarded by 500 people I have met\nduring my recent working trip to 13 aimags, and convey to you here. The people have\ncommunicated their hope that there\nshould not be a single step backward in the fight for social justice<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I thank you for attention.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"date":"2020-10-01T19:28:30","excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Esteemed Members of Parliament, Speaker of Parliament, Prime Minister, The Autumn session of the State Great Khural, formed as results of the 2020 elections, is opening. The year 2020, when the world faced a substantial challenge it has never before come across, is coming to an end. The responsibility of adopting the next year\u2019s budget […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_image_alt":"120272580_3302941613134125_4818066002719864222_n","featured_image":"https:\/\/president.mn\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/120272580_3302941613134125_4818066002719864222_n-770x513.jpg","related_posts":[]}