Khurelbaatar Bulgantuya is short of time. The Mongolian deputy finance minister’s phone rings repeatedly during our meeting and her glance often lands on the clock above the office door. She will soon be off to parliament to debate amendments to the country's 2016 budget. The new government needs to find a way to fill the $2bn hole in its books before the end of the year. What is more, the state does not even have sufficient funds to pay all debt principals and interest payments for the next two years.
The Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) won elections with a landslide victory in June, replacing a coalition government led by the Democratic Party. Since then, the MPP has scrambled to put government accounts in order.
