Mongolia’s currency is on its longest losing streak on record as the government grapples to contain an economic crisis, BBC reported.
The tugrik lost about 7.8% of its value this month, making it the world’s worst-performing currency, says Bloomberg data.
It’s been a rapid descent from grace for the central Asian nation, which neighbors China and Russia.
The landlocked country has substantial untapped reserves of valuable minerals like gold, copper and coal. But then commodity prices collapsed. And so did demand from China, which buys 90% of Mongolia’s exports.
The government has since admitted that the country is “in a deep state of economic crisis”.
Finance Minister Choijilsuren Battogtokh said in a nationally televised address last week that they weren’t able to afford to pay civil servants or the military.
Making matters worse has been the government’s inconsistent approach to investment laws and mining agreements, causing many foreign firms to rush for the exit.
Foreign direct investment in Mongolia plummeted by 85% since 2011 to the first quarter of last year, according to the US State Department.

Source: Arab News