As of June, the average gold purchase price was 100.042 tugrik (40.66 U.S. dollars) per gram, which corresponds to a low rate on the London Metal Exchange, according to experts from the Mongolian central bank. However, it is expected to increase with the start of the peak of the gold mining season in August, September and October.

Local gold producers in cooperation with the government have moved to enrich the treasury fund and improve foreign exchange rates over the past five years. Gold miners provided 20.01 tons of gold to the central bank in 2017, worth of over 800 million dollars.

The central bank launched a five-month campaign 'National Gold to the Fund of Treasures' beginning last month. Mongolia’s annual gold production has remained below 21 tons since 2005 when it reached its record high at 25 tons.

At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Minister J.Saule expressed gratitude for the close cooperation in food and agriculture sector over the past 10 years. She also emphasized that Mongolia put a request to export meat, particularly goat meat, to Iran and the country expressed to study it.

Iran delegation submitted three specific proposals which are import of meat, purchasing camels and relocating them in Iran, and having deep frozen camel semen since camel has honorable status in Iran. The delegation is interested in visiting camel farms in Mongolia to get specific information and establishing camel farm in Iran. In addition, they expressed their further intention to export camel wool products aside from satisfying domestic needs as Iranian women appreciate them.

Deputy Minister J.Saule said the proposal will be seriously considered and an official response will be sent as two humped camels are rare in the world and the camel population makes small part in Mongolian livestock. Deputy Minister invited the delegates to visit the National complex for livestock gene pool, which was recently established. She also restated willingness to increase the amount of export meat to Iran.

In recent years, studies on health impacts of animal origin raw materials and products have been intensified. There has been some achievements in agriculture studies including Mongolian scientists’ discovery that camel milk has composition against cancer. The two sides agreed to cooperate and share experiences in science sector.

M.Anudari

Earlier today, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Faranzandeh visited two Mongolian companies; namely, Makh Impex LLC and the Sausage and Canned Goods Plant LLC. During the visit, the Iranian Minister expressed his country's interest to increase meat imports from Mongolia.

Currently, the landlocked Asian country, exports a total of 10 thousand tonnes of meat to Russia, China, Japan and Kazakhstan every year.

During the meeting, the parties discussed about implementation of the activities agreed during the 16th meeting of Intergovernmental Commission between Mongolia and Vietnam, held in Ulaanbaatar last year.

They also exchanged views on the opportunities to increase the number of accredited plants of heat-treated meat and meat products and export deep frozen meat. In the framework of exporting deep frozen meat from Mongolia to Vietnam, risk assessment team from Vietnam is to work in Mongolia in August.

At the end of the meeting, the two sides agreed that they should focus on the development of cooperation between the private-sectors in food, agriculture and light industry sector.

M.Anudari

The committee has demanded that the Mongolian People’s Party fulfills its election promises to reduce prices and rationalise them nationwide. Furthermore, the committee also called drivers to hold a car horn protest on 9 July at 12.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. in front of Sukhbaatar Square.

Over 200 representatives from China's Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang autonomous regions and Qinghai Province, and Russia's Buryatia, Tuva, Kalmykia, Altai and Saha are expected to participate in the festival, which is aimed at preserving, inheriting and promoting the cultural heritage and traditions of Mongolia, Kh. Mandakhtsetseg said at a news briefing.

The event, "Eternal Sky," is co-organized by the Mongolian Foreign Ministry, the Mongolian Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports, and Ulan Bator's Culture and Arts Department.

Naadam, the Mongolian national sports festival, is a traditional display of strength, horsemanship and marksmanship. The festival was inscribed in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2010.

"On July 6, the US began to impose 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports. The US has breached WTO trade rules and launched the largest trade war in economic history to date," the ministry's statement read​​​.

The Trump administration's new 25 percent duties apply to 818 Chinese imports worth $34 billion. They are the first stage in levies threatened by the US on a total of $450 billion worth of Chinese goods.

China warned that while it promised not to "fire the first shot," it will now be forced to "counterattack" in order to defend its core interests. Beijing has vowed to inform the World Trade Organization and work with other countries to "jointly safeguard free trade and the multilateral system."

As Beijing geared up to respond to the new tariffs, it warned that the US would be “shooting itself in the foot and hurting the world” if it were to go through with the measure. Reciprocal levies had reportedly been prepared, which were set to take effect on the same day.

Beijing has been actively seeking an EU ally in the mounting trade war, with senior Chinese officials offering European states access to its market if they take Beijing's side in the row. However, Europe has rejected China’s proposal to team up against the US.

As of the first quarter of 2018, consumer loan growth reached 47.3 percent in conjunction with the total household debt increase of 18.2 percent. Consumer households contribute to 57.6 percent of total banking sector loans.

Corporate loans show an average growth of 1.5 percent for the last nine quarters, representing low business and investment growth and even lower creation of new jobs. In June, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Mongolia issued a decision to set the consumer loan debt/income ratio at 70 percent.

According to officials, the decision will help to maintain balance between the public’s current and future consumption levels, to diminish the debt burden of households and to avoid potential financial risks. In addition, it is expected that financial resources will be effectively allocated for businesses.​

"We are working to tackle environmental issues caused by a build-up of garbage. We have to improve waste management and recycling systems," Tserenbat said at an event on environmental problems.

"We are considering reducing tax on waste recycling plants by 50 percent," he said.

Statistics show that over 76 percent of Mongolia's land area suffer from soil degradation.

Recently, the government decided to ban single-use plastic bags from March 1, 2019. Enditem

Young Buddhist monks are increasingly being given control of Mongolia's monasteries as the religion struggles to find new blood.

The millennial generation of monks is the first to come of age since democracy was introduced to Mongolia in 1990. Prior to that, Buddhists in this sparsely-populated country faced deadly persecution — an estimated 17,000 monks were killed in Stalinist purges in the late 1930s.

Now, monks in their 20s and 30s are tasked with leading the next generation of Buddhist religious leaders. At one monastery in northern Mongolia, the monks alternate hours of religious study with games of basketball and the occasional phone call, a privilege reserved for people older than 25.

Here's what life is like for Mongolia's generation of millennial monks.