国际英语新闻:Mongolian president urges public to use water, electricity sparingly

ULAN BATOR, Dec.14 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga on Monday urged the public to better conserve water and electricity.

Battulga made the remarks after the Mongolian government on Sunday decided to write off payments for water, heat, electricity and waste for households and organizations (excluding governmental organizations, state and local owned entities, mining companies, wholesalers, retailers, and alcohol or tobacco producers) across the country from Dec. 1 to July 1, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I believe that the government's decision is an important step in supporting people's livelihood and activities of organizations," Battulga said, urging the public not to waste water and electricity.
More than 890,000 households and 123,800 organizations can benefit from the write-off, according to official data.

According to the National Statistics Office, Mongolia, with a population of around 3.3 million, has more than 230,000 herder households with livestock nationwide, with the number of livestock animals surpassing 70 million by the end of 2019.

As of Monday, Mongolia has reported 912 COVID-19 cases, including 478 local transmissions.

The Asian country's nationwide lockdown, imposed on Nov. 12 after its first locally transmitted case was reported, expired on Dec. 1. It has extended the restrictive measures in Ulan Bator and the provinces of Selenge and Arkhangai until Dec. 14.