Mongolia's central bank cuts benchmark interest rate to 8 pct

Mongolia's central bank announced Monday that it had decided to cut the benchmark interest rate from 9 percent to 8 percent.

"After taking into account the current and future state of the economy and financial markets, and external and internal uncertainties or risks to the economy, the monetary policy council made the decision to cut the benchmark interest rate by 1 percent to increase the amount of loans provided by the banking sector to the real sector of the economy and lower interest rates," the Monetary Policy Council of the Bank of Mongolia said in a statement.

"Our experts believe that the decision will slow down the economic downturn and support the recovery," it said.

Mongolia's gross domestic product decreased by 9.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2020 due to restrictive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, marking the sharpest drop in more than 20 years, according to the central bank.