The Minister of Finance is counting on a Gross Domestic Product of Rs 1 trillion by 2030 for Mauritius, but Renganaden Padayachy's figures are not unanimous among economists.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Mauritius would have reached Rs 651.7 billion in 2023 according to the Minister of Finance, who did not fail during his Grand budgetary oral, to specify that this amount is much more than Rs 628, 4 billion initially estimated. The government's strategy should, according to Renganaden Padayachy, allow the country's GDP to reach Rs 1 trillion by 2030.
Pending this threshold, for its part, Statistics Mauritius forecasts that GDP at current market prices, which is equal to GVA at current basic prices plus taxes on products (net of subsidies), would reach Rs 708.8 billion. in 2024, or 8.8% more than the figure of Rs 651.7 billion in 2023. After eliminating the price effect estimated at 3.7%, GDP at market prices would increase by 4.9%, or growth lower than 7% in 2023.
However, during his analysis of the budgetary measures on Radio Plus on June 14, Dr. Rama Sithanen deplored the fact that the Ministry of Finance had changed the calculation of GDP. Unlike the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank of Mauritius, he explained, the Ministry of Finance takes into account “net primary income” in its calculation of GDP. Therefore, this results in a differential of around Rs 100 billion.
However, Dr Rama Sithanen makes it clear that the “net primary income” comes from Global Business Companies, which invest across Mauritius, but not in the country. Hence the IMF's recommendation not to include this in the services export category, but in the balance of payments. “This practice has artificially increased our exports of services and, in turn, our GDP,” maintains the former Minister of Finance.
Indeed, data from Statistics Mauritius show that service exports brought in Rs 149 billion in 2019. Gross Domestic Product at market price amounted to Rs 512 billion. On the other hand, as an economist points out, data from the Bank of Mauritius relating to exports of services indicate an amount of Rs 104 billion. The services export figures published by the Bureau of Statistics for 2022 are Rs 218 billion.
On the other hand, the Bank of Mauritius publishes a sum of Rs 115 billion (or Rs 103 billion less than Statistics Mauritius). “In 2022, GDP at market price according to Statistics Mauritius was Rs 569 billion. Consequently, if we exclude the additional Rs 103 billion, a figure calculated by Statistics Mauritius, the GDP at market price in 2022 will amount to Rs 466 billion. This will be an amount lower than the GDP at market price in 2018 (Rs 481 billion) and 2019 (Rs 512 billion),” concludes the economist.
Gross domestic product at current market prices
GDP is the aggregate monetary value of all goods and services produced in a country by economic activity during a given period, usually one year, before the consumption of fixed capital. It is a measure of a country's overall economic activity.
GDP at current market prices is equal to Gross Value Added (GVA) at current basic prices plus product taxes.
The evolution of gross national income*
