Mongolia: Seeking measured growth
Momentum in Mongolia’s mineral sector helped GDP growth surge in 2011, however, extra fiscal vigilance is needed this election year as overheating could lead to high inflation, exchange rate volatility and wage pressures.
According to World Bank estimates in late January, growth reached 14.9% in 2011 and will be 15.1% in 2013. Domestic brokerages point to the country’s low population, at 3m people, and abundance of natural resources as evidence that the expansion will continue.
“What we expect is that Mongolia will continue its current growth path,” analysts from BDSec Joint stock company, one of the country’s largest brokers, wrote in a January report. “Real GDP growth in 2012 could even surpass 2011 if 2012 passes with no huge decrease in commodity prices. Some analysts even expect that it will reach as high as 23% this year.”
Indeed, Mongolia will likely keep its competitive edge due in part to its proximity to energy-hungry China, which allows for faster delivery times and cheaper transportation costs for energy and mineral imports than possible from countries such as Australia or those in Africa and South America.
When production at the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine, a combined open pit and underground mining project in the Khanbodg district in the Gobi Desert, reaches its anticipated peak between 2013 and 2014, for example, it alone is expected to boost GDP by 20-30%.
Another large mining project, the Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit, in Mongolia’s south Gobi region, has an estimated production life of more than 30 years with annual production of 15m tonnes. A planned initial public offering of Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi in London and Ulaanbaatar scheduled for fall 2012 is expected to raise as much as $3bn. The listing was originally scheduled for June, but the government is currently seeking dispensation to list in Hong Kong as well.
Though minerals are the engine of the country’s growth, figures suggest government efforts to avoid Dutch disease – whereby the financial benefits of a resource boom lead to a hollowing out of other sectors – are also having an impact. The government has also recognised the importance of transparency on tax and royalty payments in harnessing mineral wealth, with President Ts. Elbegdorj contributing to a World Economic Forum report on the issue.
The paper, published in February, recommended publishing data mining-related tax and royalty payments, creating local development councils and making public agreements between government and firms.
“The case studies and recommendations will help countries such as ours develop our mineral resources in a fair and responsible manner for all stakeholders,” Elbegdorj said.
Investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs’ February decision to buy a 4.8% stake in the Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia also boosted confidence in government measures to tighten fiscal policy. A source told Reuters the investment was only kept below 4.99% because a higher stake would have been subject to US regulations.
However, in the same month IMF officials warned the government there may be an eventual hard landing due to overspending, especially if external shocks hit the economy. Steven Barnett, a deputy division chief in the IMF’s regional office for Asia and the Pacific, said in a recent report that the government’s expansive fiscal policy could cause economic volatility.
“Government spending increased 60% in 2011 and is set to rise a further 30% this year,” he wrote. This spending, argued Barnett, had created excess demand and would lead directly to higher inflation, a substantial increase in imports, exchange rate volatility and a squeezing-out of the private sector.
“The result of [increased government spending] is people will have more money, and they will spend more,” Barnett told local media in February. “A lot of that spending falls on imports, so the foreign companies that sell goods to Mongolia benefit the most. It also results in higher inflation and higher wages in Mongolia and makes Mongolian firms less competitive.”
Indeed, the consumer price index in January 2012 increased by 2.8% compared to the previous month, and by 10.2% compared to the same period last year, with food and transport prices rising around 5% in January alone. Inflation is estimated to have risen by 10.2% in 2011.
While Ulaanbaatar is to be applauded for using the country’s mineral wealth to upgrade out-dated infrastructure and services, the economy’s openness and narrow base leaves it vulnerable to global shocks, particularly a demand slump from China. To avoid such a hard landing, maintaining tight fiscal discipline in the face of growing tax revenues and energy growth will be a necessary component in establishing stable long-term growth.