Budget Day 2017

The Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Pravind Kumar Jugnauth gave his Budget Speech on Thursday afternoon with Honourable Speaker Santibai Hanoomanjee in the Chair.

The atmosphere was cool and the event was highlighted by the presence of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, India who was accompanied by a large delegation including six members of the Indian parliament.

The House was full even though the presentation of the Finance Minister was broadcast live on national television. It was observed that Health Minister Anwar Husnoo was absent. 

The Speaker made two announcements: the presence of the Indian delegation and a break for Muslim members to go for iftaar (breaking their fast) followed by the first tappings on table by both sides of the House; thus giving a bright example of the multicultural image of Mauritius and respect of each community’s religious faith.

At the very start of his speech, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth recalled the pledge made after 2014 general elections to boost growth, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, foster higher revenue, invest massively in infrastructure, fight against poverty and stimulate the economy.

He started with the Education sector to end with macroeconomy in a calm and clear voice that lasted around two hours. The opposition listened to the Finance minister in calm without a minute of disturbance.

At the end of the session, the PMSD, the Labour party and the MMM opposition parties gave their views on the heat of the moment - Ritish Ramful of the Labour party told News on Sunday that ‘there is no real decision taken to give a boost and to revamp the economy, no real measure to increase growth and to promote investment; no new sector was announced to show interest at promoting a better economy like the Ocean Economy; that the Private sector was not mentioned as to how it will invest to create jobs and give employment to the youths.

Ramful also showed concern as to how the money given to Mauritius will be spent. ‘There is a lack of transparency as to the sum allocated,’ he added.

Trade Unions too are not too adamant at showing a ‘feel good factor’, following the Budget.

Radhakrisna Sadien of the SEF told this paper that despite some positive measures already announced in the last budget where it was to please everyone, this year’s budget confirms the putting on rail of the Metro Express; strong measures taken to establish Law and Order and facilities offered to create jobs.

Naraindranath Gopee for his part underlined that promises are made again to calm down concerns of the population and that no mention is made of public sector revenue invested in the private sector like SICOM.

The Consumer Advocacy Platform, CAP has this to say: Consumers disappointed 

Despite the decrease in the rice of flour, which is expected to impact on the price of bread immediately, consumers are disappointed. The budget does not provide for any daring measures aiming at reinforcing consumer’s purchasing power.  The Consumer Advocacy Platform expected this budget to provide for the strengthening of the legal framework to enhance consumer protection. We also expected government to come forward with innovative measures in terms of the setting up of modern instances capable of ensuring a better protection for consumers. We further note there is no mention of the formulation of a National Consumer Protection policy.   CAP also regrets that no provision has been made for the setting up of a coordinating body on food safety.  The revision of basic income tax brackets will contribute to the reduction of the gap between the rich and the poor; however its impact on purchasing power may be insignificant.  As for the provision of negative income tax, we deem that its implementation needs to be seen in order to assess its impact on consumer welfare.’

Education

• Rs 590 million for construction, extension and upgrading of infrastructure in public primary and secondary schools. 
• Provision for equipping 125 private pre-primary schools in disadvantaged regions, with the necessary pedagogical tools and materials.
• Infrastructure in four secondary schools will be adapted to make them more accessible for physically challenged students as well as personnel and visitors.
• Increase in  teaching staff namely an additional 308 Trainee Educators of whom 158 will be educators in holistic education, 184 Support Teachers to provide help to students with learning difficulties, 250 educators in secondary schools of whom 75 will be recruited to teach new subjects such as Travel and Tourism and Enterprise education.
• Construction of 4 ‘bassins d’apprentissage’ 
• An increase of 20 million in the budget to implement the recommendations of the Standing Committee on the review of the living allowances.
• Increase by 10 % of the yearly allowance for laureates pursuing post graduate studies locally.
• Increase by 20% of the yearly living allowance for Additional Laureates studying abroad
• Increase of grant-In-aid to the NGOs running Special Education Needs schools to Rs 110 million.
• New Strategy Paper for the Special Education Needs will be developed and an authority will be set up to harmonise and promote policies in that sector.
• Extension of pilot project under Marshall Plan Against Poverty to 5 additional schools. 

Facilitating day to day life of citizens

• Introduction of People Facilitation Bill to spare population the hassles of office-hopping to get public services, reduce costs and queuing time and enable them to use fully their rights
• Citizen Portal for citizens to submit their views and suggestions on how best to improve their daily lives
• Improving basic infrastructure all over the island
• Provision of an envelope of Rs 1 billion and 85 million for 2017/18 to the National Development Unit for various projects.
• Provision of an exceptional capital grand of Rs500 million to local authorities so that all councils can address long outstanding minor infrastructural works in their localities.
• Allocation of a budget of Rs 3.3 billion from Indian funding to partly finance all the major and medium projects among development of New Health Care Centre at Coromandel, multi-purpose complexes at Plaine Verte and Riviere du Rempart, acquisition of 20 fire and rescue vehicles etc. 
• Law and Order
• Provision of Rs 8.4 billion to Police Department for measures such as recruitment of 583 additional Police Constables and procurement of equipment, implementation of Police Training Academy at Cote d’Or City among others. 
• Introduction of an Integrated Development Project for the National Coast Guard (NCG), the Trident Project with a project value of Rs 2.9 billion.
• Provision of Rs440 million for the implementation of the Safe City Project launched last year, for the installation of Intelligence and Traffic Surveillance cameras in major public areas.