Government is determined to continue to provide the right support to the population during the trying times that Mauritius as well as other countries around the world are facing as a result of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, made this statement, on Friday afternoon, during the launching ceremony of the first payments of the Social Contribution (CSG) Income Allowance held at the head office of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) in Port Louis. He also proceeded to the crediting of the CSG Income Allowance of Rs 1,000 on the accounts of a first batch of 51,948 beneficiaries.
The Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy; the Director-General of the MRA, Mr Sudhamo Lal; and other personalities were also present on this occasion.
In his address, Prime Minister Jugnauth highlighted that the CSG Income Allowance has been devised by Government to financially support those citizens in need who have a net monthly income of Rs 50,000 or less, adding that it will be implemented until June 2023. He observed that some Rs 4,6 billion will be required to successfully implement this budget measure which targets some 350,000 citizens of the Republic of Mauritius.
The Prime Minister spoke about the difficult worldwide situation which resulted from the Ukraine-Russia conflict and which led to an increase in prices in a series of raw materials and basic commodities. As such, he stated, Government has come forward with a number of measures such as the CSG Income Allowance in its endeavour to better support the population in these trying times.
He further commended the MRA for having implemented this budget measure in a timely manner and dwelt on several other measures put in place by Government so as to ensure the well-being of the population.
For his part, Mr Lal underlined that the payment of the CSG Social Contribution is yet another landmark in the history of the MRA. He recalled that the negative income tax was launched a few years back to better financially support the citizens in need, and highlighted that some 350,000 persons are to beneficiate from the CSG Social Contribution.
Mr Lal indicated that, as far as the payment of the CSG Social Contribution is concerned, the MRA has received the bank account numbers of some 160,000 beneficiaries within the span of five days. He seized the opportunity to encourage those drawing less than Rs 50,000 per month and who have not yet applied for the CSG Social Contribution to do so at the earliest in order to beneficiate from this financial support.
