[Blog] Budget at a Critical Juncture

By Democracy Watch Mauritius

We are just days away from the Budget presentation by the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. Preparations at the Ministry of Finance, in consultation with ministries, departments, the private sector, trade unions and NGOs, are still ongoing, although the main trade unionists have refused to attend a meeting chaired by the Junior Minister of that Ministry, claiming that the meeting should have been chaired by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister will shortly be presented with a draft Budget speech and will no doubt hold final consultations before putting his stamp on the document.

Already, numerous proposals have been put forward publicly by different organisations. Democracy Watch considers that they contain the necessary ingredients. What more can be added? Will a longer list of suggestions help when we know that not all the proposals can be taken on board in a single Budget? Obviously, priorities will have to be established by the Government.

With the above in mind, Democracy Watch wishes to offer the following observations:

1.    The Budget should contain measures to allow vulnerable and middle-class citizens to cope with the continuing rise in the cost of living, caused mainly by higher food and fuel prices. It is therefore essential that serious efforts be made to boost local food production by adopting modern farming techniques because of the acute labour shortage. Countries such as China and India, which have made enormous progress in developing farmer-friendly technologies in this field, could be approached to share their expertise with our struggling planting community. We must consume what we produce, taxing, if necessary, the same products when imported.

2.    The Budget should focus on our energy policy and set out strong measures to reduce our dependence on imported petroleum products, whose skyrocketing prices are becoming unbearable for our economy. The generally agreed long-term policy of relying mainly on renewable energy resources (sun, wind and biomass) is not being implemented as quickly as required, leaving us still largely dependent on fossil fuels. We should, without delay, concentrate our efforts on the large-scale production of energy from the sun, wind and biomass, investing massively in these sectors. This is the way forward.

3.    The Budget should place special emphasis on education, health, the environment, human resource management, drugs, corruption, law and order, and water management. We have written extensively on these sectors in our earlier bulletins.

4.    In addition to strategies, objectives and targets, the Budget should contain a philosophy that appeals to all citizens and inspires them to fully support a motto such as: “All behind a confident and innovative Mauritius”. The Budget should instil the necessary confidence in all of us so that we can achieve greater things for our motherland.

Will the Prime Minister be able to do that? It is a make-or-break situation. All eyes are on his decisions at this critical juncture. We wish him and our country good luck.