Non-performing loans in banking system amount to MNT1.9 trillion www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. At the end of July 2020, the total amount of outstanding loans to enterprises and individuals amounted to MNT 17.3 trillion, decreased by MNT 40.4 billion (0.2%) from the previous month and decreased by MNT 945.1 billion (5.2%) from the same period of the previous year. In the total outstanding loans, MNT 8.7 trillion (50.3%) was the loan to individuals.

The performing loans reached MNT 14.3 trillion at the end of July 2020, decreased by MNT 194.9 billion (1.3%) from the previous month and MNT 1.2 trillion (7.9%) from the same period of the previous year. The performing loans make up 82.2% of the total loans, which decreased by 2.4 percentage points from the same period of the previous year.

At the end of July 2020, the non-performing loans in the banking system amounted to MNT 1.9 trillion, increased by MNT 25.0 billion (1.3%) from the previous month and MNT 10.9 billion (0.6%) from last year. The non-performing loans in the banking system make up 11.2% of the total loans, increased by 0.6 percentage points from the same period of the previous year.

At the end of June 2020, the loans from commercial banks to individuals amounted to MNT 8.7 trillion, increased by MNT 40.1 billion (0.5%) from the previous month, while it is decreased by MNT 708.9 billion (7.6%) from the same period of the previous year. By types of the loans to individuals, 41.3 percent were loans for individual business activities, 33.8 percent -- salary loans, 7.9 percent -- herder loans, 6.5 percent -- deposit-backed loans, 3.0 percent -- car loans, 2.9 percent -- credit card loans, 1.8 percent -- pension loans, 0.8 percent -- household consumption loans and 1.9 percent --others.

At the end of June 2020, credit repayments of individuals to commercial banks reached MNT 927.3 billion, increased by MNT 77.5 billion (9.1%) compared to the previous month and MNT 114.9 billion (14.2%) compared to the same period of the previous year.

At the end of June 2020, the loans to small and medium enterprises and individuals amounted to MNT 4.0 trillion, increased by MNT 148.5 billion (3.9%) from the previous month, while it decreased by MNT 15.5 billion (0.4%) from the same period of the previous year.

By the economic activities of small and medium enterprises and self-employed individuals with loans, 28.5 percent operate in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, 13.2 percent -- in manufacturing, 11.9 percent -- in construction, 4.7 percent -- in the service sectors and 3.4 percent -- in agriculture, forestry and fishing and 38.3 percent -- in other sectors.

The principals in arrears in commercial banks and Mongolian Mortgage Corporation /MMC/ reached MNT 4.7 trillion at the end of June 2020, increased by MNT 48.4 billion (1.0%) from the previous month and MNT 242.9 (5.4%) billion from the same period of the previous year.

Source: National Statistics Office of Mongolia

Term deposits in foreign currency grow by 56.7 percent from last year www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. The money supply (M2) reached MNT 21.4 trillion at the end of July 2020, increased by MNT 1.1 trillion (5.3%) compared with the same period of the previous year. The main reason for this increase was resulted from MNT 1.7 trillion (56.7%) increase of time deposits in foreign currency, MNT 243.2 billion (2.2%) increase of time deposit in domestic currency and MNT 16.5 billion (2.6%) increase of currency outside depository corporations.

Equilibrated balance shows deficit of MNT 2.5 trillion www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. According to the preliminary results in the first seven months of 2020, the total revenue of the general government budget was MNT 5.3 trillion. The equilibrated revenue of the general government budget was MNT 4.9 trillion and 93.1% of the total revenue of the general government budget.

Traded pieces of securities decreased by 87.9 percent from previous month www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. In the first seven months of 2020, securities worth of MNT 23.7 billion were traded at the national stock market, which is decreased by MNT 101.0 billion (81.0%) compared to the same period of the previous year.

Ivanhoe and China’s CNMC announce Africa partnership www.mining.com

Ivanhoe Mines on Tuesday announced a deal with China Nonferrous Metal Mining (CNMC) under which the companies would jointly look for African mining projects to explore, develop or acquire.

The destination of the 30,000 sheep donated by Mongolia is clear www.tellerreport.com

Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, Mongolia has donated 30,000 sheep to China. On the 17th, Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Chai Wenrui stated that these sheep will be slaughtered in a centralized manner after entering China, and then the destination of this batch of mutton will be decided according to the intentions of China and Mongolia. It is understood that Mongolia will dedicate these mutton to the people of Hubei and Wuhan who have shown bravery in the fight against the epidemic.

China is the biggest winner of the US renewables boom www.rt.com

As the shift to clean and renewable energy begins to gain serious momentum, the US is now facing another conundrum: Being too dependent on China for the minerals used to build clean energy systems.
Since the days of President Jimmy Carter and the 1970s oil crisis, the US has relentlessly pursued the utopia of becoming energy independent. But with persistent oil crises and severe oil price shocks, it has become glaringly obvious that Washington will never achieve true energy independence by relying solely on fossil fuels, even if the United States finally becomes a net oil exporter. The majority of America’s citizens also feel that the government should ‘‘...focus on developing alternative sources of energy over expansion of fossil fuel sources’’ in a bid to alleviate climate change.

Whether it’s in the pursuit of energy independence or in a bid to ameliorate climate change, there’s an undeniable shift to renewables going on in the US, with renewable energy accounting for 11.4 percent of total US energy consumption in 2019 compared to only four percent two decades ago.

But as the shift to clean and renewable energy begins to gain serious momentum, the United States is now facing another conundrum: Being too dependent on China for the minerals used to build clean energy systems.

China supplies ~80 percent of the rare earths elements (REE) used by the United States to manufacture windmills, solar panels, electric car batteries, cellphones, computers, medical equipment, national defense systems, and even in oil and gas technologies.

Back in 2018, the Interior Department released a list of 35 minerals it classified as being ‘critical’ to the US economy. The alarming part: The US entirely relies on imports from China for 14 of these minerals, and imports 75 percent of at least another ten.

Those figures are not exaggerations: According to the US Geological Survey, China supplied 80 percent of the US’ REE in 2019. Yet another worrying statistic: Although the US mined 18,000 metric tons of its own rare earths in 2018 and 26,000 metric tonnes in 2019, the US Geological Survey has revealed that all domestic production of mineral concentrates was exported. Only three decades ago, the US was the world’s number-one producer of these minerals but has slipped down to seventh place.

China’s vice-like grip on the US REE supply chain would become as clear as daylight if Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ascends into the Oval Office and starts to implement his $5 trillion climate plan.

Biden has pitched a highly ambitious $5 trillion-plus climate proposal that he says would be necessary if the US is to match the EU by becoming a net-zero carbon emission country by 2050. Biden has proposed a staggering $1.7 trillion in federal spending over the next decade to achieve this goal, with the private sector expected to chip in with the balance. Biden says the taxpayer costs can be recovered by repealing the generous tax bonanza that Trump granted US corporations and also by eliminating subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.

Becoming Self-Sufficient
With China being home to nearly half of the world’s known REE deposits, the US will have little choice than to ramp up its imports of these minerals from the Middle Kingdom as it transitions to renewables, something not made easy by the fact that the entire globe is in the same race to shift from fossil fuels to cleaner energy. Further, the specter of China using its strategic control of REE’s in a trade war remains very real.

Several energy experts have acknowledged this reality, and have emphasized that the US will only achieve true energy independence by inventing affordable clean energy technologies and ensuring that they are made locally and sold globally.

As US Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has declared: "We need to reverse our damaging dependence on China and other nations and rebuild domestic supply chains for everything from personal protective equipment to clean energy technologies.”

But this is not just about lowering our dependence on China out of an abundance of caution. Dr. Arun Majumdar of Sanford University and co-Director of the Precourt Institute for Energy has pointed out that we import more than 50 percent of our oil at a cost of about $300 billion a year--money that could be used to create jobs if we became self-sufficient in our energy needs.

Battushig to work at Evaluation Committee for 2030 Asian Games www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced the composition of the OCA Evaluation Committee on August 12, and First Deputy President of the Mongolian National Olympic Committee, Member of International Olympic Committee B.Battushig have been selected as one of the 10 members of the Evaluation Committee.

Petro Matad continues to wait for permitting progress in Mongolia www.oglinks.news

Petro Matad Limited (LON:MATD) shares fell around 10% in Monday’s early deals as its interim results statement included updates on the permitting process in Mongolia.

Hollywood film featuring Mongolian actors to screen in Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’, starred by Mongolian actress and model Gana Bayarsaikhan and other famous Hollywood actors will be screening in Mongolia from August 21.