ULAN BATOR, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia will exempt import tariffs for certain food products until the end of this year in order to ensure their supply and price stability, the government's press office said Wednesday.
"During its regular meeting on Wednesday, the government approved a list of certain food products such as sugar, vegetable oil and rice to be exempt from import tariffs," the press office said in a statement.
It is estimated that the exemption will help reduce the retail price of those products by 4 to 7 percent.
Consumer prices have been rising sharply in the landlocked Asian country due to the continued border restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
For example, the average retail price per kilogram of rice stood at 6,900 Mongolian Tugriks (about 2.1 U.S. dollars) at the end of the first quarter of this year, up 130 percent from the same period last year, according to the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions. ■
