Growth picked up to 6.4% in 1995, but it was a short-lived acceleration—it would be another eight years before Mongolia reached that level of growth again.  The World Bank/IDA’s first ever Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Mongolia noted that, as painful as the first half of the 1990s had been for Mongolia, it was not as bad as in the countries of the former Soviet Union.  Only the Baltic countries had growth resume by 1994.  The CAS attributed Mongolia’s turnaround to five factors: strong monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies to achieve macroeconomic stabilization; an early privatization program which opened the door for a private sector supply response; prompt and continued assistance of the international community; political stability and progress on institutional reforms, including the adoption of several new laws to support the new market-oriented economy; and government commitment: “When controversial decisions need to be taken, reform-oriented views have prevailed within the Cabinet and Parliament. The Government, and society at large, are aware that a return to the past is impossible and emphasize that a market-oriented economy based on democratic principles is central to their development philosophy.”