Mongolia to provide monthly allowances to all children

ULAN BATOR, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian government will start to provide monthly allowances to all children aged 0-18 from June 1, the government's press office said Tuesday in a statement.

Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh "has ordered relevant officials to provide an allowance of 20,000 Mongolian tugriks (over 7.5 U.S. dollars) per month to all children aged up to 18 ... starting from June 1," the statement said.

According to the country's National Statistics Office, around 33 percent of Mongolia's total 3.2 million population are children aged 0-18.

For now, only children from low- and middle-income families across the country receive such a benefit under the Child Money Program, which was launched in 2005.