偿债期临近 蒙古国开始勒紧裤腰带

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.

蒙古国新政府披露称，该国财政预算缺口已接近经济产出的五分之一。这凸显出该国财政状况是多么的糟糕，该国货币已因此大幅贬值。

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

蒙古人民党(Mongolian People’s party)在上月的选举中获得压倒性胜利。

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.

尽管该党列出了严格的削减成本措施，但蒙古国5.34万亿图格里克（合26.7亿美元）的财政收入与9.7万亿图格里克（合48.7亿美元）的财政支出之间仍存在缺口——这一赤字相当于该国国内生产总值(GDP)的18%，远高于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.

蒙古国人口为300万，GDP约为120亿美元，高度依赖采矿业和大宗商品出口（主要出口对象是中国）。

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.

矿业投资猛增帮助蒙古国提前偿还了之前国际货币基金组织(IMF)给该国的贷款，但最近的铜价和煤价下行对该国经济造成了沉重打击。

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.

从明年3月开始，蒙古国还面临着沉重的偿债压力，届时蒙古开发银行(Development Bank of Mongolia)发行的一笔5.8亿美元的债券将会到期。该行在未来两年必须偿还17亿至18亿美元，其中包括与中国央行之间货币互换协议要求的还款金额。

“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.

“我们的当务之急是给我国的财政带来纪律和秩序，确保公众了解全部情况、理解我们为什么采取这些行动，”蒙古国外长蒙赫奥尔吉勒(Tsend Munkh-Orgil)说。

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

这份预算案包括下调公务员工资、加税和延长退休年龄。

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.

蒙古国在矿业发展风头最劲时建立了一些基金，用于满足其他社会性支出。如今，这些支出已经枯竭，其中包括学生补贴、以及颇受欢迎的每个孩子每月2万图格里克（合9美元）的全民“儿童补助”。

“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.”

“尽管我们预料到财政压力会加大，但我们没预料到预算状况会像近期报道的那样生死攸关，”亚洲开发银行(ADB)驻蒙代表冯幽兰(Yolanda Fernandez)表示，“（蒙古国）政府将迎来颇具挑战性的两年。”

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.

蒙古人民党政府尚未正式向国际捐助机构求援，但观察人士预计，当预算案获批、新政府在今年晚些时候拟定一份方案后，人民党政府就会正式求援。