Titbits:Theatre of the Absurd: The Planning dialogue; Growth-oriented push; Public Enterprise Reform;The Quality of Tertiary Education

Theatre of the Absurd: The Planning dialogue

Trying to catch up on Development Planning after wasting some five years chasing short-term goals, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED) has embarked on an ambitious planning dialogue for a “Ten Year Economic and Social Transformation Plan” on a wrong note. The planning dialogue looks like a theatre of the absurd.

The strong rupee- refocusing the debate

The recent public debate on the strong rupee missed three essential points.

1. Large capital inflows: Firstly, the falling Euro only partly explains our appreciating exchange rate. As from 2007, the large capital inflows have more than offset the widening trade and current account deficits resulting in Balance Of Payments (BOP) surpluses. There has been a continuing build-up in foreign reserves and upward pressure on our Nominal and  Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER).

A case for demerging planning from MOFED

On  the MID project , food security, energy and water issues, industrial development policy and more recently the national debate on the reform of the CPE, the Minister of Finance had very little to contribute. On most of the issues of national importance they are totally absent - on their own web site, in board meetings,in meetings with line ministries, on the sectoral plans , with the IMF and World Bank and other consultants, you name it !!!

Of Doers, Bean counters and Visionaries

The Governor of our Central Bank is blunt. His words that he does not mince may have hit a wave of hostility within the intellectual elite and some institutions. He has the habit of steering us into uncharted waters, into an unknown destination. Does he deserve a cheer from the shoreline, or a blast on the foghorn. ? .....

 

Press Version: Budget 2012: Colourable Accounting

     The IMF in its two latest reports on the Mauritian Economy (Public Expenditure and Financial      Accountability (PEFA) Assessment and the 2011 Article IV Consultation—Staff Report) pointed fingers at some of the curious arithmetic in our budget numbers; it noted that the chronic underspending on the capital side was not allowed to flow through to the budget bottom line, resulting in smaller deficits. Government reappropriated the funds and transferred them to a set of special funds.

Budget 2012: Short-term fixes

The IMF in its two latest reports on the Mauritian Economy (Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Assessment and the 2011 Article IV Consultation -Staff Report) pointed fingers at some of the curious arithmetic in our budget numbers.

Titbits: The private sector “fait son cinema »;The Budget: Effets d’annonce;The PBB, again and again;Integration of Budget and Planning

The private sector “fait son cinema »
Mauritius drops three ranks in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) 2012 index and this has suddenly awakened our private sector to the fact that we have been lagging behind on reforms. Now they have something to exhibit for the morosity in domestic and foreign investment. (The assumed positive correlation between the EoDB index and FDI is doubtful; China (91th), India (132th),South Africa(35th) have no dearth of foreign investment.) The private sector lobby is already at work to get rid of the capital gains tax and other taxes introduced by the previous Minster of Finance.