A new large-scale survey on the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 finds that the pandemic may cause economic challenges for two to three years in Mongolia.

The survey was conducted by the United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office in Mongolia with the United Nations, its systemic organizations and other international organizations.

Director of the Multilateral Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs D.Gerelmaa shared results of the survey on Monday, highlighting that the full impact of the pandemic is yet to come.

“The survey suggests that Mongolia has been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this is not the full impact. Adverse economic impacts are expected to continue for two to three years,” D.Gerelmaa said.

According to the survey, Mongolia’s economy contracted by 10.7 percent in the first half of this year due to a 30 percent decline in growth of the mining sector, which accounts for 24 percent of GDP. It also revealed the most vulnerable groups to the pandemic, which include families with three or more children, young families, people living with disabilities, elderly people and herders with small number of livestock.

In response to the pandemic and to minimize the economic fallout, the government and UN have developed a two-year plan. It is designed to recover the economy, deliver core social services equitably to the public, and develop education and health sectors.

“This plan will require approximately 50 million MNT,” said D.Gerelmaa. “The UN is willing to cover half of the costs but the government will need to cooperate with other international organizations to raise the other half.”