Africa Strategy: A Mere Slogan?

The Africa Strategy was supposed to be another core element of the Economic Mission Statement (EMS) to transform Mauritius into a regional platform for trade, investment and services. This would be achieved through enhanced economic exchanges and improved air and sea connectivity, with the eventual creation of both a regional air and shipping company. 

Political Caricatures:Government losing its grip on the political and social situation; Employment creation is now at its lowest since 1991;...

Updating Moody's April 2019 Report

(Published in MTimes 19 04 2019)

The latest Moody's Report, dated April 2019, has assessed our fiscal strength and debt affordability as moderate. It also finds that the high debt levels and interest burden are a constraint on the rating and are above similarly rated peers.

Mauritius and the EU Tax Haven Blacklist

(Published in MTimes, 19 April 2019)

 Mauritius narrowly avoided inclusion in the European Union's tax haven blacklist of March 2019 by committing to  address, by end 2019, "identified deficiencies" in the Partial Exemption Tax (PET) Regime introduced in 2018 to replace the Deemed Foreign Tax Credit (DFTC). 

Political Caricatures:Floods: Frustrated outbursts of the public; ReA’s proposals to address food security challenges; IRP cancels a contract of Rs 72 M; Budget submissions: Measures for small planters;  Religious celebrations: Political speeches; Religious celebrations: Political speeches;Tourism’s poor performance – Where is the Minister?;MMM’s participatory approach for its electoral program

Technology and Innovation Policy: Some lessons for Mauritius

(Published in MTimes, 12 April 2019)

“The empirical evidence shows that the odds for poor or middle-income countries to reach high-income status within a couple of generations are very low. Over 1960-2014, less than 10 percent of economies (16 out of 182) have reached high-income status.” A very interesting piece that may be of interest to our policy makers is the working paper titled “The Return of the Policy That Shall Not Be Named: Principles of Industrial Policy” by Reda Cherif and Fuad Hasanov, March 2019. 

Political Caricatures:A land tribunal with a sitting judge; The Ministry of Tourism fails in rallying NGOs for a clean-up campaign; Civil servants on Statutory Boards; the captains blame each other, SBM sinks!; They had promised;Gambling Regulatory Authority: Biased ;

Beyond “Honte”: Achieving 5 to 6% growth rate!

(Published in MTImes 05 April 2019)

On the occasion of the 170thAnnual General Meeting of the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the President of the Chamber in his 'State of the Economy Address”, transcended the puerile issue of having “honte” (shame) of our 3.8% to 4% growth rate for a more important debate on how Mauritius can achieve 5-6%  economic growth.