Ulaanbaatar city officials are currently debating revisions to the 2026 budget during an extraordinary session of the City Council. A key concern raised during the discussions is the low salaries and heavy workload faced by civil servants in the capital city. Newly appointed Mayor Batpurev Dagva highlighted the significant financial burden on the national budget – 2.4 trillion MNT – stemming from Ulaanbaatar’s needs. He urged against simply selling assets to address the deficit and emphasized the need to address misinformation regarding the city’s debt. The city inherited a 1.7 trillion MNT budget and 43 billion MNT in investment costs in 2023. Mayor Dagva acknowledged the 2022 legal framework for Ulaanbaatar as positive but stressed that issues like traffic congestion and infrastructure require solutions beyond budgetary funds. He committed to optimizing city structures and balancing the demands of civil servant well-being with effective governance.