AKIPRESS.COM - Mongolia’s new parliament has named a former finance minister who helped oversee the an expansion of the massive Oyu Tolgoi mine to steady the economy as the country’s next prime minister, according to Bloomberg.

A week after the Mongolian People’s Party unseated the Democratic Party in a landslide election win, lawmakers voted in Erdenebat Jargaltulga, 41, as prime minister. The appointment was approved with 68 votes for and two against in the 76-seat Great Khural.

"The economy is in a difficult situation," Erdenbat said in his acceptance speech. "We fully intend to establish a professional, merit-based government at all levels. The focus will be on urgent stabilization of the economy, plus fiscal discipline. We will cooperate with international financial institutions."

The selection was relatively smooth for a country with a history of disorderly power transitions. The MPP, which won 85 percent of the seats in the June 29 elections, has so far faced little opposition in nominating its members to positions of power. MPP chairman Miyegombo Enkhbold earlier this week ascended to the position of speaker.

Erdenebat served as finance minister under former Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg in 2014-15, when the major parties unified to approve the second phase of the Oyu Tolgoi project. He has been a member a parliament since 2012 and previously served as provincial governor in Selenge province, north of the capital Ulaanbaatar.

The relatively little-known Erdenebat will serve as the MPP’s public face as Mongolia heads into deeper economic uncertainty. The nation’s growth slowed to 2.3 percent last year, compared to a world-beating expansion rate of more than 17 percent in 2011, the year before the MPP lost power to the DP. The national debt doubled during the DP’s tenure, and more than $1 billion in sovereign debt is expected to come due in the next 18 months.