"Corporates inn assez faire maja karo, It’s time for our pay now !" they argue .
The leader of the Opposition is requesting Govt to legislate for :
You recall that following the massive economic disruption caused by the lockdown , BoM extended Rs 80 billion to MIC to come to the help of some companies and cronies, of which only Rs 50 million has been disbursed till now. The Rs 50 billion of MIC money and the money taken from the Special Reserves Fund (which largely consisted of valuation gains on foreign exchange following a deliberate BoM policy to support exchange rate depreciation) are all purely money creation -the helicopter money - which was proposed by some turncoat economists now advising Pinok -have wreaked havoc on the economy, unleashing a wave of depreciation that pushed the country into a spiral of higher inflation.
Moreover, the MIC took all the bad domestic risks away at a high balance sheet cost to the central bank resulting in the latter’s incapacity to tame our higher inflation and inflationary expectations and being compelled to ration FX in the banking system and the FX market.
Our cost of living crisis is state inflicted poverty.
Now, it’s our turn to be compensated for this Govt’s incompetence and irresponsibility in managing our economy- which relied heavily on BoM’s finances for its spending spree and for its failure to containing the budget and current account deficit deficits and the elevated level of public debt .
Our Pada is however convinced that “Grace à la stratégie de croissance adoptée par le gouvernement, l’économie mauricienne s’est pleinement redressée.”
So both the private and public sector can afford to pay a 14th bonus to our low-income earners, more so as explained by the leader of the Opposition, as follows:
-Our corporates are reaping enormous profits bloated by a depreciating currency which is however killing Mauritian households. From June 2014-June 2023, the rupee has depreciated by 48%. 19 companies which were generating profits amounting to Rs 13 bn in 2019 registered profits totalling Rs 24 bn in 2022 and a jackpot of Rs 42 bn in 2023.
-The workers’ salaries have not been able to keep us with infaltion averaging some 10% over the past two years. 82% of the population especially our minimum wage earners (Rs15,000) cannot keep up with the soaring cost of living including the additional burden of a 2.5% increase in interest rate on their loans .
-As compared to FY 2019-20 , Govt revenue will go up by some extra Rs 75 in FY 2023-4 boosted by the depreciation of the rupee and the infaltion tax.
And for the annual salary compensation, the ReA is proposing an allowance of Rs 2,000 to be integrated into the salary income of employees earning less than Rs 25,000. These measures are necessary given the the double phenomenon of the enrichment of a minority of the population and the relative impoverishment of the vast majority.
For ReA spokesperson Ashok Subron , “the depreciation of the rupee has caused the impoverishment of Mauritians who are already burdened by increasingly levels of household debt, while contributing to the increase in the profit margin of large conglomerates and the banking sector."
He maintains that to compensate for this anomaly, an allowance of Rs 2,000 must be integrated into the monthly income of people earning less than Rs 25,000, and an allowance of Rs 1,000 paid to people earning less than Rs 50,000. Furthermore, he underlines that 50% of this allowance must be paid by the employer and the other by the Mauritius Revenue Authority through a levy imposed on large conglomerates massively subsidized by the State.
Soodesh Callichurn was arguing that that sone of these companies that are able to do so are already granting a 14 th and even a 15th month bonus to their employees . "This is nothing new.”
Yes, if the increase in profits is due to productivity gains , that’s the reward for the employees’ hard work. But in the present situation , the bulk of profits comes from the depreciation of the rupee which has squeezed household real incomes and family budgets ; many families are struggling to put food on the table…..the only to stave off a social crisis is to legislate for a windfall gains tax on some of the big corporates especially the exporting ones.
We have a cost of living à la EU and an income structure à la Mauricienne (low-skilled economies)- a 14th month bonus for our lower-middle-class workers will go a long way towards helping them to regain some of their lost purchasing power .
