A budget of sound bites …….

Published in Le Mauricen , 28 March 2015
There were high expectations that the budget 2015-16 will lay down the new government's vision and roadmap for economic development via a series of big bang reforms that will take Mauritius to a whole new orbit of growth. The Budget remains an enigma long after the cheerleaders and the media have taken a break from their feverish excitement. For one looking for big bang reforms the Budget is not the place to look for them. It is rather evolutionary, incremental, not distinctly different from its predecessors.

Budget 2015-16 : Evolutionary or Revolutionary !!!

From Table 1, we can see that the Consolidated Budget deficit, inclusive of special funds, has been quite high for the past two years, a result of both cyclical issues and structural challenges. There are likely to be future concerns about revenue buoyancy. Both total revenue and tax as a % of GDP have been dipping while current expenditures are likely to increase further to more than 22% of GDP with the continuing high growth in government wage bill and the additional Rs 4.7 billion in old age pension. This may not be a problem in 2015 if it is met from the Special Funds but will be a big burden in future years.