Credit agreements between Government and ADB ratified

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The State Great Khural (parliament) ratified the credit agreements of Government of Mongolia and Asian Development Bank on program of supporting social welfare and on additional funding for the project on agriculture and rural development at the plenary meeting of November 10. Finance Minister B.Bolor read the introductions of the agreements. In frames of implementing the measures for overcoming economic difficulties, the Government requested support from the ADB in order to diminish the negative impact of the current economic decline on the vulnerable strata. The Bank accepted the request and resolved to make two separate installments of credit worth 150 million US dollars in 2015 and 2016. The program of supporting social welfare will complete on December 31 of 2016. The bill on ratifying this credit agreement was backed with 83.1 percent approval of MPs. Agricultural and rural development project has been involving providing assistance to many farming cooperatives, with an aim to promote herders and cooperatives which are main suppliers of agricultural raw materials. The project’s first phase has allocated 176 incentives to 104 cooperatives that is worth 1.46 million USD, so far, being implemented in 38 soums of six aimags. It has also given 23 types of training to more than 4,300 people. In collaboration with commercial banks, the project also allowed credits of 22.3 million USD or 29 billion MNT to 12 newly established businesses, and created 1,854 jobs. The second phase of this project needs additional funding of some 50 million USD, in order to continue its actions toward improving value-added production’s network in Mongolia. The credit agreement between the Government and ADB on additional funding for phase two of Agricultural and Rural Development Project was backed by 84.5 percent.