“A budget speech that made no sense of the country’s economic strategy.” This is how Arvin Boolell described the speech of the Minister of Finance, Renganaden Padayatchy. In a press conference on Friday 11 June, the Labour Party MP said that the measures announced were empty.
He said he was concerned that nothing had been done to revive the economy to counter the crisis, the depreciation of the rupee and to restore investor confidence. According to Arvind Boolell, this is a Greek tragedy and he is worried that Mauritius will follow Greece’s lead. He also pointed out that the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESSAMLAG) will be coming to Mauritius in September, but no steps have been announced to get the country off the European Commission’s blacklist or the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list. He also pointed out that the minister spoke about opening the borders but not a word about Air Mauritius.
Regarding the 11 billion for the drains, Arvind Boolell argued that this measure should be accompanied by other parameters to fight against corruption and waste.
As for Shakeel Mohamed, he stressed that the Minister of Finance has not said anything to facilitate the private sector in creating jobs. The minister, according to him, ignored the comments of the IMF and the World Bank. The important information to remember is that with the additional Rs2 tax on fuel, from now on, the Covid 19 vaccine is no longer free for Mauritians.
For his part, Patrick Assirvaden maintains that the measures announced for the ‘Green Future’ did not include the private sector and the Independent Power Producers (IPPs). According to him, all IPPs’ contracts with the government will soon come to an end. This was the time, according to the Labour Party’s MP, to revive the energy sector.
