Xavier Luc Duval raised a point by stating that many countries across the world have already taken necessary measures to protect their population against the increase in prices and we cannot wait till 1st July for the budget to take effect. An immediate mini budget is needed right now to help the population.
Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition, Xavier Luc Duval was in front of the press this afternoon to comment on the PNQ addressed to the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Renganaden Padayachy. As commented by Xavier Luc Duval, ‘Padayachy showed a great sign of weakness by answering the PNQ addressed to him.’
Why did the Leader of the Opposition use the word ‘weakness’? This is because the Minister’s answer was based on the situation prevailing in 2008, instead of the situation prevailing in the country right now. “This is a mockery towards the population”, said Duval. The Leader of the Opposition also stated that the Minister of Finance s wanted to attack the former Minister of Finances, Rama Sithanen out of jealousy.
In his answer, Renganaden Padayachy said that the inflation rate in Mauritius is only at 5%. According to Xavier Luc Duval, this number was taken from the ‘headline inflation’, which is the minimum rate of the last 24 months when this is a more realistic rate, namely the ‘year on year’ inflation, which is also published by Statistics Mauritius. As per the year-on-year inflation rate, the inflation rate in Mauritius is twice the number cited by the Minister.
Taking into consideration the increase in prices, the people from lower standards of living are going through a more severe inflation rate as compared to those from average and higher standards of living. According to the Leader of the Opposition, it is clear that the Minister is not aware of the situation outside and that he is not in contact with the population at all, given the 5% inflation rate he cited.
He also commented on the worrying similarities noted in the IMF report on Sri Lanka dated March 2022 and the World Bank report on Mauritius dated January 2022 making it clear that just like Sri Lanka, Mauritius is in great danger.
