Financial Services
by John Li
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
by Jean-Pierre Young
Tourism
by Olivier Rey
Government and Public Sector
by Rajeev Basgeet
Agri-Business and Real Estate
by Olivier Ma
Manufacturing and SME
by Olivier Rey
Financial Services
The budget endeavours to enhance the financial services sector’s standing as an IFC, yet it lacks transformative measures.
Despite being the main contributor to the national GDP and a growth rate of 4.4%, the financial services sector in Mauritius lacks transformative measures in the current budget. The budget focuses on reinforcing Mauritius's status as an International Financial Centre (IFC) by aligning with past strategies. This includes reviewing the financial Services sector blueprint iteratively and developing a blueprint to establish Mauritius as a regional Fintech Hub.
The sector aims to address talent and investor attraction challenges by introducing long-term permits for high-skilled professionals, forming Strategic Partnership Agreements with India and African nations, and improving market liquidity via a new framework for secondary trading of Government bonds on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.
Additionally, measures to streamline business processes to enhance the ease of doing business in the financial services sector are most welcomed. These involve faster processing of investor queries and licences and expanding e-KYC to the global business sector.
Key Financial Services measures announced in National Budget 2024 - 2025
Introduction of a 10-year expert Occupation Permit to attract foreign talents in wealth management, family office, virtual assets and virtual token.
Establishment of a new framework for the secondary trading of Government bonds on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.
Creation of a blueprint to develop Mauritius as a regional Fintech Hub.
To discover all the measures announced for the Financial Services sector, download our full Budget Brief.
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Hospitality
A buoyant sector not necessarily receiving the attention expected for the long-term
The promises around the shoreline works and sand extractions will be welcome with great relief by some of the operators who are heavily impacted by beach erosion. These can be harmful to the environment if not managed carefully.
There is no mention of air connectivity or measures around sustainability of the water supply which was anticipated by the sector.
Ensuring that we have a clean island and committing to plant trees is a step in the right direction to ensuring that our island remains beautiful. Could we have gone a step further to penalise and hold accountable those who don’t respect our environment?
Key Tourism measures announced in National Budget 2024 - 2025
Restoration of our shoreline to revitalise our coastal ecosystems.
Moving towards a cleaner and greener environment by allocating funds for cleaning of beaches and tree planting.
Increase of The Promotion and Destination Marketing budget allocated to the MTPA.
To discover all the measures announced for the Hospitality sector, download our full Budget Brief.
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Agri-Business & Real-Estate
This budget is not far-reaching enough to win the battle to reduce our dependence on imports and our trade deficit
The Minister of Finance has partly tried to overcome the shortage of workers by extending the work permit period of foreign workers to 8 years but has not gone far enough to fix this issue. The Agricultural Workers Regulations will be amended to provide more flexibility for recruitment in the agricultural sector but there is a crucial lack of detail around that measure.
The increase in the grant under the Cane Replantation Scheme is welcome - 9,900 arpents have been replanted over the last 3 years. Overall however, the budget has failed to provide sufficient incentives to individuals and existing planters, breeders and farmers to invest in earnest in the agri sector.
Alarmingly, in the Real Estate sector, it appears (we have not been provided with the details) that we have added more red tape with the addition of a Strategic Environmental Assessment for morcellements or Property Development Scheme (PDS) projects above 10 arpents and any smart city. The token gesture to include a tiny forest (4% of total project land) in future morcellements, smart city and PDS projects should however be lauded.
We would welcome greater transparency and accountability in the running of the newly-created National Resilience Fund (Contribution of Rs100,000 from a smart city company per plot or per property).
Key Real Estate and Agri-Business measures announced in National Budget 2024 - 2025
Foreign workers operating in sectors including agri-business will be allowed to stay up to 8 years.
Rs50m to set up a cold storage facility at the National Wholesale Market.
Increase in the grant under the Cane Replantation Scheme from Rs50,000 to Rs60,000 per arpent.
At least 4% of total land for a morcellement, PDS or Smart City project should be allocated to a green forest.
To discover all the measures announced for the Agri-business and Real estate sectors, download our full Budget Brief.
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Public Sector
Success resides in the effectiveness of the delivery of the public services
Public Sector announcements cater for all segments of the population. Be it in education, transport, policing, community care: the planned support was expected. The Budget fortifies public infrastructure against unforeseen climate risks. Good intentions of the past, especially on water continues to be a feature.
Government is conscious that success resides in the effectiveness of the delivery of the public services. With the announced Public Sector Budget measures, the Government has indirectly planted the seeds for a forthcoming election. Unfinished and/or future dated promises would most likely form part of the Government’s next election manifesto. Funding of the public measures should be done responsibly.
Government could have made wider use of the private sector. Opening out the public sector services would have played in the Government's favour. An opportunity for the next Budget.
Key Government and Public Sector measures announced in National Budget 2024 - 2025
Rs2.5bn allocated for replacement of water pipes.
Rs250m allocated for construction, upgrading, and maintenance of school infrastructure.
Retirement pensions increased to Rs14,500 for those aged 65 and Rs16,000 for those aged 75 and above.
To discover all the measures announced for the Public Sector as well as key performance indicators, download our full Budget Brief.
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Manufacturing and SMEs
Timid measures for a sector struggling to reinvent itself
The support of the government for the minimum wage increase, the freight rebate scheme and the DBM wage support are temporary measures that are not addressing the longer term structural issues of this sector.
The removal of quotas on labour will come as relief to operators who have been struggling with recruiting and retaining our local workforce.
The increase in Participation in International Fairs SME Refund Scheme to Rs500,000 per year will hopefully encourage entrepreneurs to open new sale channels and boost local products and services.
When will manufacturing move up the value chain? When will the country create a vision of Mauritius manufacturing 2.0?
Key Manufacturing and SMEs measures announced in National Budget 2024 - 2025
Prolongation of the DBM Wage Support Scheme until 2031.
Elimination of restrictions on foreign labour quotas.
Increase of the Participation in International Fairs SME Refund Scheme to Rs500,000 yearly.
To discover all the measures announced for the Manufacturing & SMEs, download our full Budget Brief.
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Information & Communications Technology (ICT)
The digital revolution will have to wait…
The measures announced will not be enough to meet the expectations or fuel the growth of the ICT sector, or to build capacity to meet future growth demands and attract further foreign direct investments.
With the shortage of talents and the increased global competitiveness, more could have been done to boost this sector. We would have liked to see measures prompting investment in research and development, or a review of our education system to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
On a global scale, digital government is now viewed as the path towards enabling national agendas, achieving economic diversification and developing a more sustainable future. Digitalisation of new services to the citizens has been absent in this budget, when more could have been done to address the quality of our public services, for example the NLTA which is struggling on a daily basis to provide basic services to the citizens.
Another area that remains untackled is the issue of digital trust which fosters confidence in the credibility and security of digital services. We would have expected measures relating to cybersecurity strategies and capabilities.
The announcement of the development of a 5-year blueprint is encouraging and we hope that it will see its way through as the country urgently needs to define its strategic direction, enabled by innovative technologies such as Gen-AI & Cloud platforms.
Key Information and Communication Technology measures announced in National Budget 2024 - 2025
Preparing for the next Digital Era
Upcoming advancements in the digital landscape.
Business Facilitation
Measures for enhancing the ease of doing business.
Government Digitisation
Transitioning traditional government operations and services.
To discover all the measures announced for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, download our full Budget Brief.
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Contact us
Anthony Leung Shing, ACA, CTA
EMA Deputy Regional Senior Partner, Country Senior Partner, PwC Mauritius
Tel: +230 404 5071
Olivier Rey, ACA
EMA Clients and Markets Leader, Assurance Partner, PwC Mauritius
Tel: +230 404 5145
John Li How Cheong, ACCA
Partner, Head of Capital Markets and Accounting Advisory Services (CMAAS), PwC Mauritius
Tel: +230 404 5128
