AKIPRESS.COM - Mongolia's gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 9.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2020, the country's National Statistics Office (NSO) said Monday, Xinhua reported.

The Mongolian economy amounted to 16.8 trillion Mongolian tugriks (5.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, the NSO said in a statement.

The decrease in the GDP is largely related to restrictive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, said experts of the statistical agency.

As of Monday, Mongolia has confirmed 298 COVID-19 cases, all of which were imported. Among those infected, 276 people have recovered.

There are no local infections or deaths reported in the Asian country so far.