ULAN BATOR, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia is going to raise its monthly minimum wage to 420,000 Mongolian tugriks (about 167 U.S. dollars) as of Jan. 1, 2020, local media reported Thursday, citing the country's Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

Mongolia's Tripartite Council, which brings together representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, employers, and trade unions, agreed to increase the minimum wage by 100,000 Mongolian tugriks (about 40 dollars) from the beginning of the next year, the ministry said in a statement.

Starting this year, the country raised the minimum monthly wage to 320,000 Mongolian tugriks (127 dollars), up from the previous 240,000 Mongolian tugriks (95 dollars).

Currently, roughly 1.1 million people are employed in the country, of whom about 8 percent receive minimum-wage salaries, according to data released by the National Statistical Office.