STATE DRAFTS ARE STILL DISCUSSED

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A plenary meeting of parliament on Thursday ran the second reading of drafts on 2015' state budget and on social insurance and human development funds. Before this discussion, the Standing Committee on budget had run its second discussion of the same drafts. The Committee obligated a working group to pursue certain directions in the estimation of costs of investment projects and events and in the studies. The directions include reducing the operating costs of Specialized Government Funds, the expenditure of foreign loans, and reducing the interest expenditures of new government bonds; deducting the costs of equipment and capital maintenance of all sectors except health and education, and reducing those costs in the latter by 30 percent; reducing all operating costs for general budget managers; deducting all costs of feasibility studies and consulting, and omitting the costs reflected in the draft under a name of housing support; reflecting the costs of some projects and programs into the budget draft of 2015; transferring the financial responsibility for certain infrastructural projects to the Development Bank. A faction of Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) highlighted in its conclusion a necessity to focus on drafting the budget in a very economical and efficient manners, while the "Justice" coalition's faction concluded that it is impossible to increase any operational costs of investment costs, thus, the working group should focus on reducing expenditures and on creating incomes. Faction of Democratic Party (DP) outlined in its conclusion that financing responsibilities for some investment projects and events should be transferred to the budget of Ulaanbaatar and of the Development Bank. A chairman of the Standing committee on budget Ts.Davaasuren said that the committee had prepared the draft for this discussion by pursuing following directions: to decrease some operating costs of state organizations by 5-30 percent, costs that are financed by the Specialized Funds by 50 percent, and the costs of equipment and capital maintenance of the health and education sectors by 30 percent based on the recommendations given by the National Audit Authority. At the second reading, some suggestions were approved, reflected in the draft, such as cutting a number of deputy directors, vice-directors and legal advisors by 345 and reducing the operational costs. It means that a governor of aimag, soum and a city district is to have one deputy only, the UB Mayor--two deputies and no advisor, a director of government agency is to have one deputy or vice director and no advisor. After having voted on controversial definitions, the MPs passed the draft to the Standijng committee on economics for having it prepared the bill for the third and fourth readings, on Friday.