IMF Grants Mongolia $440 Million Loan as Part of $5.5b Bailout

(Bloomberg) -- Mongolia reached an initial agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a three-year program that includes an $440 million loan package as part of a $5.5 billion bailout to help the north Asian country with looming debt repayments.

“The Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and bilateral partners including Japan and Korea are expected to provide up to another $3 billion in budget and project support, while the People’s Bank of China is expected to extend its 15 yuan billion ($2.2 billion) swap line with the Bank of Mongolia for at least another three years,” the IMF said in a statement released on Sunday. “The total external financing package will thus be around $5.5 billion.”

Economic growth in Mongolia slowed to 1 percent last year as commodity prices fell and growth slowed in China, the main customer for the nation’s copper and coal exports. The country also saw foreign investment collapse after a dispute with Rio Tinto Plc over the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Kohn in Singapore at mkohn5@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brett Miller at bmiller30@bloomberg.net, John McCluskey, Philip Glamann

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