Trending on X, 6 PM: garage tax, Oyu Tolgoi dividends, Bank of Mongolia, fuel, Naidalaa, Shijir, Nepal

These are the seven topics Mongolian users discussed most on X between 14:00 and 18:20 on November 3, ranked by engagement. Post metrics are as of 18:24 (Ulaanbaatar time).

1. Garage tax petition handed to the prime minister, who orders a bill (new development)

A petition on the e-zasag.mn platform to scrap the tax on garages gathered 101,097 signatures in 20 days, the first public petition to pass 100,000. Lawyer O. Batkhuu, an adviser to the prime minister, handed it to Prime Minister N. Uchral today. Uchral said one heated garage or parking space per household should be exempt from immovable property tax and instructed Finance Minister Z. Mendsaikhan to draft the bill, iKon.mn, Montsame and MNB reported. The topic appeared in earlier roundups; today's government decision to draft a law is the new development.

2. Oyu Tolgoi dividends: finance minister proposes one-off law as MPs weigh in (new development)

After President U. Khurelsukh told the government to pay Oyu Tolgoi dividends into citizens' accounts, Finance Minister Z. Mendsaikhan said a new one-off law is needed to pay 2 trillion of the expected 3 trillion tugrik to citizens, with the remaining 1 trillion kept in the Future Heritage Fund, LiveTV.mn reported. He also warned of inflation risk. MP J. Zolzhargal said the dividends should go to the fund under the law and be spent on health, education and housing, while MP B. Jargalan pointed out that the sovereign wealth fund law clearly requires dividends to be accumulated in citizens' named accounts. MP N. Altankhuyag said handing out taxpayers' money in cash is wrong. More in our separate article.

3. Bank of Mongolia lets borrowers stretch consumer loans to 48 months

The Bank of Mongolia's Monetary Policy Committee decided that borrowers in financial difficulty can extend the total term of consumer loans, including salary, herder and car loans, to up to 48 months to lower monthly payments. Governor S. Narantsogt said the non-performing ratio of consumer loans subject to debt-to-income limits reached 9.1% in September, up 2.7 percentage points from a year earlier (iToim.mn, iKon.mn). Longer terms mean more total interest. Narantsogt told Bloomberg TV Mongolia there is room to raise the policy rate if needed, and said the tugrik exchange rate is stable.

4. Fuel: gasoline now coming from China, South Korea and Kazakhstan as well as Russia

B. Dashpurev, state secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, said Mongolia is buying gasoline from China, South Korea and Kazakhstan in addition to Russia. Deputy Minister B. Munkhtamir said 92,000 tonnes of fuel have been confirmed for November: 70,000 tonnes from Russia, 12,000 from South Korea, 8,000 from China and 3,000 from Kazakhstan. As of today the country has 10 days of AI-92 gasoline, 28 days of diesel and 36 days of jet fuel in reserve, iKon.mn reported.

5. Energy minister: no power cuts this winter barring major breakdowns

Energy Minister B. Naidalaa said Mongolia will get through the winter without electricity restrictions unless there are unforeseen accidents or breakdowns. He warned there is no guarantee, since 19 of the 49 turbine generators in the power system are past their service life (NTV). The minister has previously said winter peak demand is expected to reach 1,956 MW, above installed capacity, and that about 350 MW will be imported.

6. MP Shijir criticises school rental costs and construction delays

A parliamentary budget expenditure oversight subcommittee reviewed the "School close to home" programme. Education agency head Kh. Tamir said rent for leased school space has been set at 50,000 tugrik per square metre this year. MP U. Shijir said the education ministry's rental spending has grown from 20 billion tugrik in 2020 to 64.6 billion in the 2027 budget, and that because schools take four years on average to build, cost overruns will require 150 billion tugrik in 2027, iKon.mn reported.

7. Two helicopters collide near Everest in Nepal, killing an Indian tourist

Two helicopters operated by Fishtail Air and Air Dynasty collided while landing at the Pheriche helipad in Nepal's Solukhumbu district, killing a 47-year-old Indian tourist and injuring a passenger and both pilots. Officials said the weather was clear and a technical problem may have been the cause, The Hindu and Hindustan Times reported. More in our separate article.

Methodology: We ranked posts from about 200 major news and influential accounts found through X search, plus more than 50 keyword searches, by an engagement score (likes + 2× reposts + views/100), and checked the facts against news sites. Posts that could not be verified or that carried a risk of defamation were left out. Views expressed by individuals on X do not represent the position of egov.mn.