Changes in the exchange rate of MNT against USD since January 2018, Source: MSE

Tugrug has been unstable in recent months. The exchange rate of one dollar reached 2,627 MNT on Sunday, marking nearly 1.2 percent depreciation in a week and a whopping nine percent depreciation in half a year.

A dollar converted to 2,428 MNT in January before the tugrug value appreciated to 2,391 MNT in March and then faced an abrupt depreciation in mid-June, hitting 2,464 MNT per dollar. After a brief period of stability between late-June and early-September, the exchange rate of tugrug against the dollar became much weaker, rising from 2,472 MNT to 2,567 MNT by mid-September. For a while, tugrug managed to hold its value at around 2,560 MNT per dollar but starting mid-November, dollar started to gradually appreciate.

Tugrug fell to 2,597 MNT per dollar on November 25 and to 2,627 MNT on December 2. Compared to the 2,444 MNT per USD exchange rate in December 2017, dollar has gone up by 183 MNT in value, marking a 7.5 percent depreciation.

On Sunday morning, a dollar was bought for 2,630 MNT and sold for 2,640 MNT at Naiman Sharga -- Ulaanbaatar’s largest international currency exchange center. This is a slight improvement compared to last Thursday’s exchange rate when a dollar was bought for 2,635 MNT and sold for 2,645 MNT.