Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth: Inaugurating a new economic era?

On Monday, following his swearing in ceremony, the new Prime Minister and Minister of Finance addressed the nation. In his message, Pravind Jugnauth revealed his major economic projects for the next three coming years. 

The leader of the MSM received his letter of appointment as Prime Minister from the President of the Republic, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim on Monday January 23rd. Following the resignation announced last Saturday by Sir Anerood Juganuth as Prime Minister, his son Pravind has now become the fifth Prime Minister of the country.

At 56 years, the new Prime Minister, also holds the portfolios of Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit as well as Minister of Finance and Economic Development. In his televised address to the nation on Monday night, Pravind Jugnauth outlined the priorities of his government, mainly into making Mauritius a place where everyone can “live in safety”, while bringing “dynamism, modernity, cleanliness and prosperity.”

On the finance and economic level, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development said that Mauritius will move “to the top speed.” Pravind Jugnauth aims at making Mauritius a high-income country. “When I look at the economic indicators, I see it is achievable… This year will show better economic performance,” he said. The PM expects foreign direct investment to reach Rs 17 billion and boost the construction sector with a 7% growth, after years of stagnation. 

Pravind Jugnauth also promised falling unemployment rate and a higher growth rate between “3.8 and 4%”. As this requires an environment that will attract local and foreign investment, the Finance Minister plans to further open the economy to investors. The focus will also be on agriculture, fisheries and the manufacturing sectors, among others, he said. 

Also the Metro Express is a flagship project of Pravind Jugnauth’s government. The project will be launched in March, as promised by Sir Anerood Jugnauth some months earlier. The new PM estimates the investment is needed to develop the road infrastructure to Rs 30 billion for the next three years. Digital economy also features among the objectives of the new government. 

“I am aware that the population and young people aspire to a modern and sophisticated country. The bureaucracy must give way to faster and simplified procedures. My government will work on a digital strategy with great rigour and seriousness,” uttered the Prime Minister.

Through these declarations, the new head of government intends to give a breath of renewed vitality to the country’s economy. This boost is much awaited by economic operators and the population alike. 

Pierre Dinan

According to the economist, as Pravind Jugnauth was the one who presented the Budget last year, there will be continuity. “He was appointed as Minister of Finance last year. I do not expect things to change. The only thing is that now we are reassured that there is a government in place for the next three years. We now expect that he will do better with the announced projects. We also expect that social inequalities will be eliminated and most importantly, a better climate and atmosphere that will attract foreign as well as local investments,” says Pierre Dinan.

He expects a change in the economic environment. “Let’s not forget that he is the one who defines the social security budgets. I thus wish, from a social point of view, that he will roll back the compulsory contribution by private firms to the CSR foundation. Many NGOs have been affected and are not functioning like before.”

Pierre Dinan also trusts that all the previous Finance Ministers, including the present one, share more or less the same philosophy. “With the new Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, it is only the way of doing things what will change.” The economist also hopes that despite the huge responsibilities of Pravind Jugnauth as Prime Minister that he will “facilitate the implementation of projects and investments to create permanent employment.”

George Chung

“Our Prime Minister has already listed the priorities for the finance and economic sector. What has changed is that today, pragmatism takes the lead instead of economic ideology. Wherever we look around the world, whether it is in the European countries and even in Russia, pragmatism is leading,” says George Chung, adviser for Pravind Jugnauth.

He also trusts that there are other major aims for the next coming years for the Finance and Economic Development Ministry. “There must be a fair contribution of wealth. We should put an end to social inequalities. They cannot exist anymore as transparency has become the norm through the advent of technology which allows for easy access to information. George Chung explains that “employment and creation of wealth appears to be on the agenda as well.” He adds that he trusts that Pravind Jugnauth will be able to handle his Ministries “as he is well surrounded and has a competent team.”

Rajiv Servansingh

The economic pundit trusts that “the first thing to welcome is the fact that the Prime Minister has kept the portfolio of the Ministry of Finance. In the present circumstances, a change of Minister would have been a destabilising factor.” However, according to Rajiv Servansingh, “as Prime Minister, we can hope that he will impress his economic philosophy on the government.” 

The new Prime Minister has, in the past, “shown a desire to balance the social and economic measures in his budget.” He adds that “in our view, 2017 should be a better year in terms of economic performance and we think that with a no change policy, we should reach a growth rate of 4% as compared to the 3.6% of last year.”

However, he believes that if Pravind Jugnauth comes up in the forthcoming budget with a “coherent economic plan to facilitate investments by private sector, and the government goes ahead with the public investment program that have been schedule for public infrastructure, transportation, the port among others, this should add some points of growth for this year.” 

Commenting on Pravind Jugnauth’s ability to juggle between various ministries, Rajiv Servansingh trusts that “surely the fact the Prime Minister has other Ministerial portfolios can be a drawback. However, in the present circumstances, we believe that it is still better that Pravind Jugnauth should stay as Minister of Finance because we should not forget that over the past two years, we have already had two different Ministers of Finance.”