Leading a delegation, the Executive Director and Administrator of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Mauritius, Mr Aivo Andrianarivelo, and the Alternate Executive Director EDS13, Africa Group II from the World Bank (WB) Group, Mr Alphonse Ibi Kouagou, called on the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, on Friday afternoon, at the New Treasury Building in Port Louis. They were accompanied by the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy.
In a statement after the meeting, Messrs Andrianarivelo and Kouagou said that they were able to discuss the objective of their visit, a rather special joint visit of the WB and the IMF, with Prime Minister Jugnauth. Mr Kouagou recalled that they came for consultations to learn more about the country and its business climate so as to identify how to best support Mauritius on its way forward.
The IMF representative underlined that Mauritius has really managed to cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 and continues to effectively manage the crisis of the Ukraine/Russia war. “Similar to many other countries, there has been a rise in inflation, particularly the increase in the price of petroleum products, and the Mauritian Government has had to implement several measures to deal with this inflation,” he pointed out. Mr Andrianarivelo emphasised that among the measures undertaken by the Government, the initiatives to assist the vulnerable have been positively noted the IMF.
Furthermore, he indicated that discussions also pertained to their findings from the private sector. The IMF will pursue its collaboration with Mauritius, he said, adding that “we have helped Mauritius get out of this economic stagnation and have always tried to support the country so that it can be among the flourishing African countries in terms of development, cooperation, and regional integration”.
Speaking about the Mauritius Investment Corporation Ltd, Mr Andrianarivelo underlined that the IMF believes that this initiative has immensely helped Mauritius to preserve jobs and become more resilient.
Mauritius, the Administrator indicated, is dependent on tourism as well as on activities revolving around tourism, including the hotel industry which represents an essential part of the economy, and aviation. “Given that the market had difficulty operating during the COVID-19 period, the decision that was taken by the authorities is justifiable and we believe that in the future, the country can correctly address the actions and risks that should be taken if required,” he stated.
According to the WB official, as an island State, Mauritius has a particularity and requires additional investigation when it comes to banking. It is only after getting to know the field reality of a country that we can intervene and represent it better, he added. “We can now explore how to improve operations and promote investment in the country, especially since presently there is an enhanced regional integration with the rest of the African continent,” Mr Kouagou said.
