There was a merciless duel between Xavier-Luc Duval and Renganaden Padayachy during the Private Notice Question. The PNQ focused on the lack of foreign exchange in the country and the devaluation of the rupee. In his opening response, Renganaden Padayachy explained the impact of the pandemic on foreign exchange inflows. He said that for 2020 and 2021, the country has recorded a total shortfall of Rs 122 billion in terms of foreign exchange. He added that since March 2020, the Bank of Mauritius has intervened in the foreign exchange market by selling US$2.9 billion.
He also acknowledged that the rupee has seen a devaluation of 7.6% in 2020 and 9.2% in 2021. “The rupee could have been affected more widely,” Renganaden Padayachy explained. Then he said: “In 2012, didn’t Xavier-Luc Duval, the then Minister of Finance, want to devalue the rupee by injecting $100 million into the foreign exchange market? I must point out that there was no confinement at the time and global growth was at a decent level.”
Xavier-Luc Duval countered by asking the Minister of Finance to explain why in the five months after he took over, from November 2019 to March 2020, the rupee devalued by 8%. He also spoke of “the weakness of the Bank of Mauritius” while Renganaden Padayachy put forward the independence of the institution. He once again went back in time and accused Xavier-Luc Duval of having referred to “the high value of the rupee”, of having attacked the Governor of the Bank of Mauritius and of having “knowingly devalued the rupee”.
Renganaden Padayachy also revealed that the Bank of Mauritius is now aiming to make the rupee appreciate.
