償債期臨近 蒙古國開始勒緊褲腰帶

Mongolia’s new government has revealed a budget deficit equivalent to nearly one-fifth of economic output, underlining the dire financial conditions that have sent the currency tumbling.

蒙古國新政府披露稱，該國財政預算缺口已接近經濟產出的五分之一。這凸顯出該國財政狀況是多麼的糟糕，該國貨幣已因此大幅貶值。

Even after stringent cost-cutting measures outlined by the Mongolian People’s party, which won a landslide victory in last month’s elections,

蒙古人民黨(Mongolian People’s party)在上月的選舉中獲得壓倒性勝利。

the country faces a gap between its revenues of MNT5.34tn ($2.67bn) and MNT9.7tn ($4.87bn) expenditure — a shortfall equivalent to 18 per cent of gross domestic product, well above the 4 per cent statutory limit.

儘管該黨列出了嚴格的削減成本措施，但蒙古國5.34萬億圖格里克（合26.7億美元）的財政收入與9.7萬億圖格里克（合48.7億美元）的財政支出之間仍存在缺口——這一赤字相當於該國國內生產總值(GDP)的18%，遠高於4%的法定上限。

Mongolia, with a population of 3m and GDP of some $12bn, is heavily dependent on mining and commodities exports, mostly to China.

蒙古國人口爲300萬，GDP約爲120億美元，高度依賴採礦業和大宗商品出口（主要出口對象是中國）。

A surge of mining investment helped it repay previous IMF loans early, but the more recent downturn in copper and coal prices has dealt a heavy blow to the economy.

礦業投資猛增幫助蒙古國提前償還了之前國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)給該國的貸款，但最近的銅價和煤價下行對該國經濟造成了沉重打擊。

The country also faces hefty debt repayments beginning in March, when a $580m bond issued by the Development Bank of Mongolia comes due. It must repay $1.7bn-$1.8bn over the next two years, including a swap agreement with China’s central bank.

從明年3月開始，蒙古國還面臨着沉重的償債壓力，屆時蒙古開發銀行(Development Bank of Mongolia)發行的一筆5.8億美元的債券將會到期。該行在未來兩年必須償還17億至18億美元，其中包括與中國央行之間貨幣互換協議要求的還款金額。

“Our priority is to bring discipline and order to our finances, to make sure the public gets the full picture and understands the reasons for our actions,” said Tsend Munkh-Orgil, foreign minister.

“我們的當務之急是給我國的財政帶來紀律和秩序，確保公衆瞭解全部情況、理解我們爲什麼採取這些行動，”蒙古國外長蒙赫奧爾吉勒(Tsend Munkh-Orgil)說。

The budget includes cuts in civil service salaries, higher taxes and a later retirement age.

這份預算案包括下調公務員工資、加稅和延長退休年齡。

Other social payments from funds set up during the height of the mining boom have run dry, including subsidies for students and the popular universal “child money” of MNT20,000 ($9) per month for every family.

蒙古國在礦業發展風頭最勁時建立了一些基金，用於滿足其他社會性支出。如今，這些支出已經枯竭，其中包括學生補貼、以及頗受歡迎的每個孩子每月2萬圖格里克（合9美元）的全民“兒童補助”。

“While we expected increased fiscal pressure, we did not expect the budget situation to be as critical as recently reported,” said Yolanda Fernandez, representative for the Asian Development Bank. “The government is going to face two challenging years.”

“儘管我們預料到財政壓力會加大，但我們沒預料到預算狀況會像近期報道的那樣生死攸關，”亞洲開發銀行(ADB)駐蒙代表馮幽蘭(Yolanda Fernandez)表示，“（蒙古國）政府將迎來頗具挑戰性的兩年。”

The Mongolian People’s party government has not formally requested assistance from international donors, but observers expect that it will after the budget is approved and the new government draws up a plan later this year.

蒙古人民黨政府尚未正式向國際捐助機構求援，但觀察人士預計，當預算案獲批、新政府在今年晚些時候擬定一份方案後，人民黨政府就會正式求援。