Gasoline prices could be coming down

Petroleum importers increased the price of a liter of gasoline by MNT 270 on January 6.
That caused the prices of food and consumer goods to rise as well, leading to much public anger. The Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) demanded that the Government take measures to reduce gas prices by February 8.

The head of the CTU’s Labor and Social Policy Board, B.Batbileg, told the newspaper Uls Turiin Toim that a working group with representatives from the CTU, the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, and the National Development and Renovation Committee was established to research the feasibility of reducing gas prices, and it has concluded that prices can be reduced. He said the Government told the working group that mining activity will increase in the spring, which will increase the tugrik’s rate against the U.S. dollar.

He also said the Government has given the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy permission to cancel the customs excise tax on petroleum products, and Mongol Bank has taken measures to stabilize the tugrik’s rate, which greatly influences fuel prices.

Deputy Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Ts.Garamjav said the ministry has been in talks with petroleum importers for a week, and gas prices were not reduced on February 8. If petroleum importers come to an agreement among themselves, she added, prices could be reduced.

Representatives of petroleum importers say the reserve of fuel they purchased while the tugrik was falling has not been depleted yet. An official from Sod Mongol LLC said Russian companies have not reduced their exported fuel prices for the last three months. The official said gas prices will be reduced when the company’s reserve of fuel purchased when the tugrik was falling is gone.

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