In Parliament yesterday, Tuesday 20th July, during the Private Notice Question of the Hon. Leader of the Opposition, Xavier Luc Duval, on transparency regarding the beneficiaries of the investments made by the Mauritius Investment Corporation, the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr. Renganaden Padayachy refused to give the names of the companies whose applications for financial assistance were approved by the Investment Committee of the institution.
In his response to the question of the Minister of Finance argued that the Companies Act as well as the Constitution of the Mauritius Investment Corporation do not allow the dissemination of confidential information. “Just like a commercial bank or any other investment fund, the MIC is independent and operates based on the decisions made by its Investment Committee. The investment framework adopted by the MIC is in line with international best practices on good governance”, said the Minister in Parliament. He reassured the House that the Charter that has been adopted by the MIC to make investment decisions will soon be made public.
Anticipating Duval’s probing question on his Ministry’s capacity to invite the Bank of Mauritius to disclose documents, applications as well as examinations made by the Investment Committee of the MIC, the Minister replied the following: “In accordance with the Bank of Mauritius Act and the Banking Act, we cannot make confidential information public without a Court’s Order. In addition, according to Standing Orders 21.1 and 21.2, I cannot answer for entities that do not fall under the aegis of my Ministry”.
This confidential stance chosen by the authorities on the beneficiaries of financial assistance is at the opposite of the views expressed by the International Monetary Fund in a recent paper called “Keeping the Receipts: Transparency, Accountability and Legitimacy in Emergency Responses.”
“Emergency situations can offer a fertile ground for vested interests to use public funds for private gain, making it critical that vulnerabilities to corruption and misuse be recognized and mitigated”, the paper concludes. To protect and preserve institutional legitimacy, “records of guarantee fees and loans should be complete, accurate, updated and reconciled monthly, and published along with the names of the beneficial owners”, wrote the IMF Staff.
The MIC approved applications worth Rs.30 billion in total since its inception last year. Companies benefiting from the MIC’s support employ approximately 30,000 people.
