Mauritius ranks the sixth with 80.6 score in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI).
Iceland leads the world with a score of 93.5 in addressing pollution control and natural resource management challenges, according to EPI produced by a team of environmental experts at Yale University and Columbia University. This is the third edition of the EPI, which has been revisited biannually since 2006.
Released on Thursday at the World Economic Forum annual meeting, the EPI ranks 163 countries on their performance across 25 metrics aggregated into ten categories including: environmental health, air quality, water resource management, biodiversity and habitat, forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and climate change..
Iceland’s top-notch performance derives from its high scores on environmental public health, controlling greenhouse gas emissions, and reforestation. Other top performers include Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Norway and Mauritius – all of which have made substantial investments in environmental infrastructure, pollution control, and policies designed to move toward long-term sustainability, said the report.
Occupying the bottom five positions are Togo, Angola, Mauritania, the Central African Republic, and Sierra Leone –impoverished countries that lack basic environmental amenities and policy capacity.
The US places 61st in the 2010 EPI, with results on some issues, such as provision of safe drinking water and forest sustainability, and weak performance on other issues including greenhouse gas emissions and several aspects of local air pollution. This ranking puts the United States significantly behind other industrialized nations like the UK (14th), Germany (17th), and Japan (20th). Over 20 members of the EU outrank the US.
Of the newly industrialised nations, China and India rank 121st and 123rd respectively – reflecting the strain rapid economic growth imposes on the environment. However, Brazil and Russia rank 62nd and 69th, suggesting that the level of development is just one of many factors affecting placement in the rankings. Similarly, France ranked seventh, Australia eighth, South Africa at 115th and Madagaskar at the 120th.
The 2010 EPI report provides a detailed analysis for each country, showing its performance on each of the 25 basic indicators, the ten core policy categories, and the two over-arching objectives of environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. In addition, each nation is benchmarked against others that are similarly situated with groupings based on geographic regions, level of development, trading blocs, and demographic characteristics. These peer group rankings make it easy to highlight leaders and laggards on an issue-by-issue basis and to identify “best practices.”
Analysis of the policy drivers underlying the 2010 rankings suggests that income is a major determinant of environmental success. At every level of development, however, some countries achieve results that exceed what would be anticipated, demonstrating that policy choices also affect performance. For example, Chile, where substantial investments in environmental protection have been made, ranks 16th, while its neighbor, Argentina, which has done much less to improve its pollution control and natural resource management, lags in 70th place. Regulatory rigor, the rule of law and good governance, and the absence of corruption also show strong correlations with high EPI scores.
The Environmental Performance Index builds on the best data available with indicators drawn from international organizations, such as the World Bank, the UNDP, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as research groups such as the World Resources Institute and the University of British Columbia. But many of these data sets are based on reporting by national governments that is not subject to any external review or verification.
Serious data gaps, moreover, limit the ability to measure performance on a number of important issues. And incomplete data resulted in the exclusion of dozens of countries from the 2010 EPI, the report observes.
Ranking
1 Iceland 93.5
2 Switzerland 89.1
3 Costa Rica 86.4
4 Sweden 86.0
5 Norway 81.1
6 Mauritius 80.6
7 France 78.2
14 United Kingdom 74.2
17 Germany 73.2
20 Japan 72.5
28 Singapore 69.6
38 Nepal 68.2
61 United States of America 63.5
115 South Africa 50.8
120 Madagascar 49.2
121 China 49.0
123 India 48.3
Showing posts with label Mauritius Budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mauritius Budget. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, December 14, 2009
Mauritius ranks top in ‘Paying Tax’ list in Sub-Saharan Africa
PORT LOUIS: Among the 46-Sub Saharan African countries Mauritius tops the rank in Paying Tax, followed by Botswana and South Africa in the second and third positions.
The report – a joint publication of the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers – is the fifth edition that the World Bank Group’s Doing Business project has included the "paying taxes" indicator.
The indicator measures the ease of paying taxes in 183 economies around the world. Besides paying taxes, the Doing Business project provides quantitative measures of regulations in nine other areas: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.
However, Mauritius ranks 12th – slipping one position down from last year’s 11th rank – among the 183 economies around the world. “A medium-size company must make seven payments in a given year in Mauritius, whereas the Sub-Saharan African average is 37.7 and OCED average is 12.8 payments per year,” according to the report.
Similarly, it takes 161 hours per year to pay the tax in Mauritius whereas in Sub-Saharan African country, it takes 306 hours in an average.
The paying taxes indicator measures tax systems from the point of view of a domestic company complying with the different tax laws and regulations in each economy. The case study company is a small to medium-size manufacturer and retailer, deliberately chosen to ensure that its business can be identified with and compared worldwide.
The indicator covers the cost of taxes borne by the case study company and the administrative burden of tax compliance for the firm. Both are important for business. They are measured using three subindicators: the total tax rate (the cost of all taxes borne), the time needed to comply with the major taxes (profit taxes, labour taxes and mandatory contributions, and consumption taxes), and the number of tax payments.
The paying taxes indicator measures all taxes and contributions mandated by government at any level (federal, state, or local) as they apply to the standardised business. The total tax rate subindicator measures the impact of taxes and contributions on the company’s income statements. It includes the corporate income tax, social contributions and labour taxes paid by the employer, property taxes, property transfer taxes, dividend tax, capital gains tax, financial transactions tax, waste collection taxes, and vehicle and road taxes. The other two subindicators, on the time to comply and number of payments, also include taxes and contributions withheld or collected, such as sales tax or value added tax (VAT).
In this year’s report, the top reformer was Timor-Leste, which introduced a new tax law, streamlined the business tax regime, and simplified tax administration. Between June 2008 and May 2009, 45 economies made it easier to pay taxes as measured by Doing Business, almost 25 per cent more than in the previous year, according to the report.
“Eastern Europe and Central Asia had the most reforms for the third year in a row, with 10 economies reforming, whereas around the world on average, the case study company faces a total tax rate (percentage of profit paid out in taxes) of 48.3 per cent and spends 286 hours a year, and makes 31 tax payments, to comply with tax laws,” the global report said.
In the EU the average total tax rate for the case study company fell from 46 per cent to 44.5 per cent reflecting in part cuts in the corporate income tax rate implemented in 2007-08 in Germany and Italy.
The number of taxes levied on the company averages 9.5 globally. The average for the EU is almost 11.
Mauritius has climbed to 17th position from 24th in the global Doing Business 2010 report. It has been ranked first among 46 Sub-Saharan Africa economies. The Indian Ocean Island country has climbed seven position up to rank 17 from last year’s 24 position, according to the Doing Business Report – measuring business regulation. Out of the 10 category in the overall report, it has improved in the four categories but slipped in the five categories, whereas it is in the bottom of one of the category – closing business – compared with last year’s report.
The top 10
Mauritius – First
Botswana – Second
South Africa – Third
Malawi – Fourth
Seychelles – Fifth
Zambia – Sixth
Comoros – Seventh
Ethiopia – Eighth
Swaziland – Ninth
Rwanda – Tenth
The report – a joint publication of the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers – is the fifth edition that the World Bank Group’s Doing Business project has included the "paying taxes" indicator.
The indicator measures the ease of paying taxes in 183 economies around the world. Besides paying taxes, the Doing Business project provides quantitative measures of regulations in nine other areas: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.
However, Mauritius ranks 12th – slipping one position down from last year’s 11th rank – among the 183 economies around the world. “A medium-size company must make seven payments in a given year in Mauritius, whereas the Sub-Saharan African average is 37.7 and OCED average is 12.8 payments per year,” according to the report.
Similarly, it takes 161 hours per year to pay the tax in Mauritius whereas in Sub-Saharan African country, it takes 306 hours in an average.
The paying taxes indicator measures tax systems from the point of view of a domestic company complying with the different tax laws and regulations in each economy. The case study company is a small to medium-size manufacturer and retailer, deliberately chosen to ensure that its business can be identified with and compared worldwide.
The indicator covers the cost of taxes borne by the case study company and the administrative burden of tax compliance for the firm. Both are important for business. They are measured using three subindicators: the total tax rate (the cost of all taxes borne), the time needed to comply with the major taxes (profit taxes, labour taxes and mandatory contributions, and consumption taxes), and the number of tax payments.
The paying taxes indicator measures all taxes and contributions mandated by government at any level (federal, state, or local) as they apply to the standardised business. The total tax rate subindicator measures the impact of taxes and contributions on the company’s income statements. It includes the corporate income tax, social contributions and labour taxes paid by the employer, property taxes, property transfer taxes, dividend tax, capital gains tax, financial transactions tax, waste collection taxes, and vehicle and road taxes. The other two subindicators, on the time to comply and number of payments, also include taxes and contributions withheld or collected, such as sales tax or value added tax (VAT).
In this year’s report, the top reformer was Timor-Leste, which introduced a new tax law, streamlined the business tax regime, and simplified tax administration. Between June 2008 and May 2009, 45 economies made it easier to pay taxes as measured by Doing Business, almost 25 per cent more than in the previous year, according to the report.
“Eastern Europe and Central Asia had the most reforms for the third year in a row, with 10 economies reforming, whereas around the world on average, the case study company faces a total tax rate (percentage of profit paid out in taxes) of 48.3 per cent and spends 286 hours a year, and makes 31 tax payments, to comply with tax laws,” the global report said.
In the EU the average total tax rate for the case study company fell from 46 per cent to 44.5 per cent reflecting in part cuts in the corporate income tax rate implemented in 2007-08 in Germany and Italy.
The number of taxes levied on the company averages 9.5 globally. The average for the EU is almost 11.
Mauritius has climbed to 17th position from 24th in the global Doing Business 2010 report. It has been ranked first among 46 Sub-Saharan Africa economies. The Indian Ocean Island country has climbed seven position up to rank 17 from last year’s 24 position, according to the Doing Business Report – measuring business regulation. Out of the 10 category in the overall report, it has improved in the four categories but slipped in the five categories, whereas it is in the bottom of one of the category – closing business – compared with last year’s report.
The top 10
Mauritius – First
Botswana – Second
South Africa – Third
Malawi – Fourth
Seychelles – Fifth
Zambia – Sixth
Comoros – Seventh
Ethiopia – Eighth
Swaziland – Ninth
Rwanda – Tenth
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
MAURITIUS BUDGET 2010: FM Sithanen plays Santa
PORT LOUIS: Finance minister Ramakrishna Sithanen today presented his fifth budget keeping the common man in mind. Nearing election year, Sithanen’s presentation is not likely to raise eyebrows.
The budget for the year 2010 – made to coincide with the calendar year for the first time – has its focus on accelerating the private sector investment, mitigating the economic crisis and creating more jobs, ensuring social security including low cost housing, water supply and sewage – and sustainable development while stressing on Greener Mauritius. The budget also promises to promote culture and sports too.
“The Balance of Payments (BoP) has turned around from a deficit of 4.9 billion in 2005 amounting to 2.6 per cent of GDP to a surplus as from 2007,” Brunel University doctorate finance minister said adding that “despite the crisis the surplus is projected to be around Rs 13.5 billion ($452 million) for 2009, representing about 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).”
He has, however, projected a fiscal deficit at 4.5 per cent. But the government borrowing requirement will only be four per cent of the GDP, because it is going to raise Rs 1.5 million from the listing of Mauritius Telecom (MT).
Painting a rosy picture of the island nation’s economy – in his over two-hour long budget speech in the parliament house – he hailed the role of Small and Midium Entreprises (SMEs) as according to him, in the past four years, these enterprises have generated 24,000 new jobs, accounting for 60 per cent of the total 40,000 jobs created. “In 2008, the economy has created more jobs for women than men,” he said.
The good news for the business community is that he has kept the tax rates unchanged. However, the budget has targeted to raise Rs 66.8 billion in revenue that is up by 21.9 per cent than the last year.
Due to its traditional mono-crop economy, the budget has a various packages for the sugar industry sector.
He has continued the Additional Stimulus Package (ASP) until December 2010 to mitigate the crisis because of the positive outcome from ASP during the year. The budget vows to provide support of Rs 900 million to local authorities compared to some Rs 45 million they used to receive annually and maintain the additional Rs 100 million for infrastructure
development in Rodrigues.
Though, he is worried about the very high budget deficit. The expansionary macroeconomic policies -- in particular stimulus Measures -- have triggered a rise in household consumption as a percentage of GDP to 75.2 per cent in 2009 from 74.3 per cent in 2008. As a result the saving rate is expected to fall to 12.8 per cent in 2009.But according to the finance minister, the Indian Ocean Island nation has survived the crisis. He attributed the survival of the economy despite the global crisis, to reforms.The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has predicted a growth rate of 2.8 per cent for 2009 and 4.3 per cent for 2010. By 2011, he said, the economy will rebound and be on track for five per cent and above.
FDI
FDI averaged around Rs 1 billion annually for the two decades ending 2005. We have taken this yearly average to around Rs 8.4 billion since 2005. Following the reforms in 2006, we have attracted more than Rs 30 billion of FDI. This year, in the midst of the crisis, we are expecting around Rs 9 billion of FDI. The FDI is also more diversified than in the past, coming from various countries and flowing into almost all sectors of the economy. Two months ago the Jin Fei project was inaugurated. It is the single largest FDI in our history, for an investment of Rs 25 billion over eight years, creating some 40,000 jobs, both direct and indirect.
National Savings
National saving rate in Mauritius has been historically high, staying above 20 per cent for most of the years since independence. However, as from 2001 it has been on a decline. The situation could have tightened the capacity to finance investments. But it has not. During the period 2006 to 2009, average monthly rupee deposits at banks have grown by around 40 per cent, outpacing GDP growth and generating enough liquidity to meet investment needs. In fact, all types of deposits, including savings, time and foreign currency have been rising at rates exceeding GDP growth. The savings-investment gap is also reflected in the current account of the Balance of Payments (BoP). The Net International Reserves have gone up from Rs 56.3 billion in 2005 to around Rs 100 billion – an 80 per cent increase. Our country has enough foreign currency reserves to pay for 42.8 weeks of imports compared to 31.4 weeks in July 2005.
Current Account
The current account deficit is expected to be lower at around nine per cent of GDP. The BoP has turned around from a deficit of Rs 4.9 billion in 2005, amounting to 2.6 per cent of GDP to a surplus as from 2007. Despite the crisis, the surplus is projected to be around Rs 13.5 billion for 2009, representing 4.8 per cent of GDP.
Agro-Industry
One of the traditional pillars of the country’s economy – the sugarcane Industry – has bounced back and expanded by around 22 per cent, including an 18.2 per cent growth in 2009. “The government’s vision of food security has been fruitful as the stage has been set for the production of 10 million litres of milk per year as from 2010 and 12 million litres by 2011. The Food Security Fund is also financing the purchase of fibre glass boats for off lagoon fishers. The Fishermen Investment Trust is funding activities that were previously inaccessible for artisanal fishermen, including fish farming in cages, integrated fish culture projects in barachois and purchase of boats for off lagoon fishing in Mauritius and in Rodrigues. The Marine and Agricultural Resource Support (MARS) programme is implementing pro-poor reforms and institutional development, marine resource management, and diversification of rural incomes and employment in Mauritius and Rodrigues.
Textile
The textiles and clothing sector was recovering from its deep recession, expanding its output by up to 8.5 per cent in 2007. But it was caught in the
global crisis, stagnating in 2008 and its output shrinking by four per cent in 2009.
Tourism
The tourism sector has been booming before the global crisis hit the island nation. It expanded by an annual average rate of 7.8 per cent from 2006 to 2008 with a peak of 15.2 per cent in 2007. But this year, it has been hit by the crisis, showing a negative 7.6 per cent growth.
Financial sector
The financial industry has come out relatively unscathed from the global financial turmoil. It will grow by some six per cent this year. The sector is showing an annual average growth rate of around 7.6 per cent for the period 2006 to 2009.
ICT/BPO
The ICT/BPO sector has grown by 40.8 per cent in the past three years and is expanding by 16.2 per cent this year. It is now contributing 5.8 per cent to GDP from less than one percent in 2005 and is employing 12,000 persons.
Construction
The construction industry has been experiencing its best period in many years. Its growth averaged 10.5 per cent annually for the period 2006 to 2008. This year the slowdown in real estate and IRS and RES activities have affected its output, while public investment in infrastructure has enabled it to maintain a positive growth of 2.5 per cent. The real estate sector is maintaining a healthy growth pace, averaging seven per cent for the period 2006 to 2009 and expanding by about six per cent in 2009.
Health care
The health centre of excellence has become a reality - providing world class services to Mauritians as well as to foreign clients. The number of beds in private clinics has increased by 56 per cent since 2005 to more than 800. There are now 19 private clinics in Mauritius in contrast to 12 in 2005.
Infrastructure development
The budget continuing its focuses on infrastructure development – including eco friendly infrastructure – has promised to modernise and expand import.
“Over Rs 15 billion have been allocated to extend, improve and create new road networks. Out of which Rs 1.3 billion to maintain and rehabilitate round 600-km of roads. The construction of the additional carriages and road ways will add 360 km of roads to the network,” he said.
He has also allocated budget for the Port. The Mauritius Container Terminal berth is being strengthened and expanded and the seabed is being deepened to 16.5-m at a cost of Rs 3.5 billion to allow the Port to meet growing traffic and attract larger vessels,
Agriculture
To enable planters and breeders to optimise their revenue, AREU is setting up an agricultural production and marketing information system. It will provide planters with real time market intelligence on crop production and prices by using mobile phone technology and posting information on a central website. Relevant information for breeders will also be supplied. To encourage the development of high-tech sheltered farming the government is introducing a scheme to provide technical assistance for the design and implementation of projects. It will also advance 90 per cent of the investment costs on soft terms, with a moratorium on payments for three years. It is setting up a scheme to assist sugar co-operatives to obtain the Fair Trade accreditation from the EU. This will enable them to obtain a premium of $60 per tonne of sugar. Government will advance the funds on soft terms for 75 per cent of the costs of consultancy and the application fee of Rs 150,000. Government has instead decided to set up a Cane Democratisation Fund to hold the 35 per cent stake in the various companies. The shares currently held by the Sugar Investment Trust in milling companies will be transferred to the Cane Democratisation Fund. In return, the shareholders of SIT will own shares of corresponding value in the Cane Democratisation Fund. Shares in the Cane Democratisation Fund will be offered to planters, labourers and artisans.
Bounty for the employees
Upto Rs 12,000 monthly salary holders – 3.5 per cent increment
Above the Rs 12,000 – Rs 450
The budget for the year 2010 – made to coincide with the calendar year for the first time – has its focus on accelerating the private sector investment, mitigating the economic crisis and creating more jobs, ensuring social security including low cost housing, water supply and sewage – and sustainable development while stressing on Greener Mauritius. The budget also promises to promote culture and sports too.
“The Balance of Payments (BoP) has turned around from a deficit of 4.9 billion in 2005 amounting to 2.6 per cent of GDP to a surplus as from 2007,” Brunel University doctorate finance minister said adding that “despite the crisis the surplus is projected to be around Rs 13.5 billion ($452 million) for 2009, representing about 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).”
He has, however, projected a fiscal deficit at 4.5 per cent. But the government borrowing requirement will only be four per cent of the GDP, because it is going to raise Rs 1.5 million from the listing of Mauritius Telecom (MT).
Painting a rosy picture of the island nation’s economy – in his over two-hour long budget speech in the parliament house – he hailed the role of Small and Midium Entreprises (SMEs) as according to him, in the past four years, these enterprises have generated 24,000 new jobs, accounting for 60 per cent of the total 40,000 jobs created. “In 2008, the economy has created more jobs for women than men,” he said.
The good news for the business community is that he has kept the tax rates unchanged. However, the budget has targeted to raise Rs 66.8 billion in revenue that is up by 21.9 per cent than the last year.
Due to its traditional mono-crop economy, the budget has a various packages for the sugar industry sector.
He has continued the Additional Stimulus Package (ASP) until December 2010 to mitigate the crisis because of the positive outcome from ASP during the year. The budget vows to provide support of Rs 900 million to local authorities compared to some Rs 45 million they used to receive annually and maintain the additional Rs 100 million for infrastructure
development in Rodrigues.
Though, he is worried about the very high budget deficit. The expansionary macroeconomic policies -- in particular stimulus Measures -- have triggered a rise in household consumption as a percentage of GDP to 75.2 per cent in 2009 from 74.3 per cent in 2008. As a result the saving rate is expected to fall to 12.8 per cent in 2009.But according to the finance minister, the Indian Ocean Island nation has survived the crisis. He attributed the survival of the economy despite the global crisis, to reforms.The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has predicted a growth rate of 2.8 per cent for 2009 and 4.3 per cent for 2010. By 2011, he said, the economy will rebound and be on track for five per cent and above.
FDI
FDI averaged around Rs 1 billion annually for the two decades ending 2005. We have taken this yearly average to around Rs 8.4 billion since 2005. Following the reforms in 2006, we have attracted more than Rs 30 billion of FDI. This year, in the midst of the crisis, we are expecting around Rs 9 billion of FDI. The FDI is also more diversified than in the past, coming from various countries and flowing into almost all sectors of the economy. Two months ago the Jin Fei project was inaugurated. It is the single largest FDI in our history, for an investment of Rs 25 billion over eight years, creating some 40,000 jobs, both direct and indirect.
National Savings
National saving rate in Mauritius has been historically high, staying above 20 per cent for most of the years since independence. However, as from 2001 it has been on a decline. The situation could have tightened the capacity to finance investments. But it has not. During the period 2006 to 2009, average monthly rupee deposits at banks have grown by around 40 per cent, outpacing GDP growth and generating enough liquidity to meet investment needs. In fact, all types of deposits, including savings, time and foreign currency have been rising at rates exceeding GDP growth. The savings-investment gap is also reflected in the current account of the Balance of Payments (BoP). The Net International Reserves have gone up from Rs 56.3 billion in 2005 to around Rs 100 billion – an 80 per cent increase. Our country has enough foreign currency reserves to pay for 42.8 weeks of imports compared to 31.4 weeks in July 2005.
Current Account
The current account deficit is expected to be lower at around nine per cent of GDP. The BoP has turned around from a deficit of Rs 4.9 billion in 2005, amounting to 2.6 per cent of GDP to a surplus as from 2007. Despite the crisis, the surplus is projected to be around Rs 13.5 billion for 2009, representing 4.8 per cent of GDP.
Agro-Industry
One of the traditional pillars of the country’s economy – the sugarcane Industry – has bounced back and expanded by around 22 per cent, including an 18.2 per cent growth in 2009. “The government’s vision of food security has been fruitful as the stage has been set for the production of 10 million litres of milk per year as from 2010 and 12 million litres by 2011. The Food Security Fund is also financing the purchase of fibre glass boats for off lagoon fishers. The Fishermen Investment Trust is funding activities that were previously inaccessible for artisanal fishermen, including fish farming in cages, integrated fish culture projects in barachois and purchase of boats for off lagoon fishing in Mauritius and in Rodrigues. The Marine and Agricultural Resource Support (MARS) programme is implementing pro-poor reforms and institutional development, marine resource management, and diversification of rural incomes and employment in Mauritius and Rodrigues.
Textile
The textiles and clothing sector was recovering from its deep recession, expanding its output by up to 8.5 per cent in 2007. But it was caught in the
global crisis, stagnating in 2008 and its output shrinking by four per cent in 2009.
Tourism
The tourism sector has been booming before the global crisis hit the island nation. It expanded by an annual average rate of 7.8 per cent from 2006 to 2008 with a peak of 15.2 per cent in 2007. But this year, it has been hit by the crisis, showing a negative 7.6 per cent growth.
Financial sector
The financial industry has come out relatively unscathed from the global financial turmoil. It will grow by some six per cent this year. The sector is showing an annual average growth rate of around 7.6 per cent for the period 2006 to 2009.
ICT/BPO
The ICT/BPO sector has grown by 40.8 per cent in the past three years and is expanding by 16.2 per cent this year. It is now contributing 5.8 per cent to GDP from less than one percent in 2005 and is employing 12,000 persons.
Construction
The construction industry has been experiencing its best period in many years. Its growth averaged 10.5 per cent annually for the period 2006 to 2008. This year the slowdown in real estate and IRS and RES activities have affected its output, while public investment in infrastructure has enabled it to maintain a positive growth of 2.5 per cent. The real estate sector is maintaining a healthy growth pace, averaging seven per cent for the period 2006 to 2009 and expanding by about six per cent in 2009.
Health care
The health centre of excellence has become a reality - providing world class services to Mauritians as well as to foreign clients. The number of beds in private clinics has increased by 56 per cent since 2005 to more than 800. There are now 19 private clinics in Mauritius in contrast to 12 in 2005.
Infrastructure development
The budget continuing its focuses on infrastructure development – including eco friendly infrastructure – has promised to modernise and expand import.
“Over Rs 15 billion have been allocated to extend, improve and create new road networks. Out of which Rs 1.3 billion to maintain and rehabilitate round 600-km of roads. The construction of the additional carriages and road ways will add 360 km of roads to the network,” he said.
He has also allocated budget for the Port. The Mauritius Container Terminal berth is being strengthened and expanded and the seabed is being deepened to 16.5-m at a cost of Rs 3.5 billion to allow the Port to meet growing traffic and attract larger vessels,
Agriculture
To enable planters and breeders to optimise their revenue, AREU is setting up an agricultural production and marketing information system. It will provide planters with real time market intelligence on crop production and prices by using mobile phone technology and posting information on a central website. Relevant information for breeders will also be supplied. To encourage the development of high-tech sheltered farming the government is introducing a scheme to provide technical assistance for the design and implementation of projects. It will also advance 90 per cent of the investment costs on soft terms, with a moratorium on payments for three years. It is setting up a scheme to assist sugar co-operatives to obtain the Fair Trade accreditation from the EU. This will enable them to obtain a premium of $60 per tonne of sugar. Government will advance the funds on soft terms for 75 per cent of the costs of consultancy and the application fee of Rs 150,000. Government has instead decided to set up a Cane Democratisation Fund to hold the 35 per cent stake in the various companies. The shares currently held by the Sugar Investment Trust in milling companies will be transferred to the Cane Democratisation Fund. In return, the shareholders of SIT will own shares of corresponding value in the Cane Democratisation Fund. Shares in the Cane Democratisation Fund will be offered to planters, labourers and artisans.
Bounty for the employees
Upto Rs 12,000 monthly salary holders – 3.5 per cent increment
Above the Rs 12,000 – Rs 450
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
MAURITIUS BUDGET 2010: People on Finanace Minister’s mind
PORT LOUIS: When the Finance minister reads out his budget speech on Wednesday he will keep ‘people’ in mind. His focus might also be on accelerating growth across various sectors.Since this is the last budget of this government, there is a high probability that it will "put people first" and therefore attempt an early harvest even though the financial space created was used to sustain the economy. Do not also expect any new reforms to be initiated, though existing reform programmes are doing fine.
Priority will thus have to be the safeguard of employment through various supports to businesses like continuation of stimulus packages and the maintenance of heavy public investment in infrastructure and other projects. This, unfortunately, could be at the cost of not bringing down the budget deficit to a manageable level.
The GDP growth should be propped back to its average level of five per cent so that jobs could be created and the debt-servicing eased through tax buoyancy.
That the economy is back on normal growth pattern and some more measures have been taken on the social front such as wage compensation, a betterment of the purchasing power and eradication of absolute poverty are pluses for the minister.
One can expect that the government to focus on utilities, particularly water supply and wastewater disposal programmes.
At the same time, investments in infrastructure and the stimulus package are keys to ensure job preservation and creation. The stimulus package that the government has offered has been fruitful. So it should be maintained as a shock observer for a traditional economy like ours that is still suffering from the global economic downturn. However, the government might review some of the programmes without disturbing the social dimension.
The MID (Maurice Ile Durable) fund could be reactivated in the context of the Copenhagen conference on climate changes and so would food security through regional initiatives.
The last budget has predicted budget deficit to GDP to rise to 4.8 per cent in December 2009 and it seems to be close to reality as the government spending continues to oil the wheel of the economy.
To eradicate poverty, the government has put in a lot of effort. The implementation of the two per cent Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Levy will soon be a reality and will go a long way towards poverty alleviation.
The major MID programme needs more regulatory framework for alternative forms of energy. This is more the priority as the price of oil looks to rocket further and electric cars seem to be of lesser priority.
Developing large infrastructure projects is a must to propel the economy. Infrastructure needs of this island country are high compared to available resources. This gap remains and therefore the focus will remain.
As Mauritius is a welfare state, the government has given a lot of emphasis on social security programme. The reinforcement of Mauritius as a Welfare State will and should continue as it will help those below the poverty line.
Among the sectors that might benefit could be the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment that needs a re-look as it faces many challenges. Another sector expected to benefit would be the crisis-hit tourism industry.
Finally the common man will benefit as more jobs would be created and preserved, and social security benefits could be enhanced.
The budget could also have some surprises as there could be revised legislation to ensure a level playing field and any loophole is plugged for the new regulations in IRS/RES projects.
Though the government has been talking a lot about Knowledge Hub, Ile Durable, 24/7 working environment, it should also add a new working culture with a new mindset to be able to take the economy to the next level.
The reforms initiated since minister Sithanen’s first budget, if completed, will ensure that the country moves to the next level.
(In conversation with BDO De Chazal Du Mée's CEO Yacoob Ramtoola, corporate finance partner Afsar Ebrahim, and consultant Dr Babu Rajpatti.)
Rama Krishna Sithanen
Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Empowerment
Education: B Sc Economics (with First Class Honours), an MSc Economics (with a Mark of Distinction) at the London School of Economics and a PhD in Political Science from Brunel University
Tenure: Minister of Finance ( Sep 1991 to Dec 1995, 2005 to present). Elected to the National Assembly for Belle-Rose/Quatre Bornes (2005)
Distinction: Chosen by the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum in 1994 as one of the 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow
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