Mauritius is a small country of about 1.3 million people which evolved from a poor sugar economy at the time of independence in 1968 into a successful upper middle-income country today largely through trade-led development.
... See More + Good economic management has helped the country successfully weather several adverse external developments, but could not prevent a decline in GDP growth rates in recent years. Because good economic growth and rapid progress in human development went hand in hand in the past, both the government plans and the WBG's Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) agreed that the lowered growth rate was the country's main challenge. Hence, the main theme of the World Bank Group (WBG) strategy was to increase the competitiveness of the economy while protecting the vulnerable. The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) was organized around the government's four focus areas (or pillars) of reform: (1) fiscal consolidation and improved public sector efficiency; (2) improving trade competitiveness; (3) improving the investment climate; and (4) democratizing the economy through participation, social inclusion and sustainability. Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) adds two lessons from this review. First, the absence of clearly specified and verifiable indicators with baselines and targets in the results matrix makes it very difficult to assess or validate achievement of objectives such as in the case of Mauritius. Second, in Mauritius, while the failure of the two large Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Advisory Service Projects may trigger exit from a particular PPP transaction, the Bank’s comparative advantage in this area suggests that it should continue to leverage its knowledge services to pursue an active dialogue on PPP.
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This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Mauritius. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2017 is the 14th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2016 Mauritius ranks 42. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. Doing Business 2017 presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2016 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January–December 2015).
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The Country Opinion Survey in Mauritius assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in gaining a better understanding of how stakeholders in Mauritius perceive the WBG.
... See More + It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil society in Mauritius on 1) their views regarding the general environment in Mauritius; 2) their overall attitudes toward the WBG in Mauritius; 3) overall impressions of the WBG’s effectiveness and results, knowledge work and activities, and communication and information sharing in Mauritius; and 4) their perceptions of the WBG’s future role in Mauritius.
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The purpose of this report is to facilitate cross-learning among World Bank Group programs in small states. It selectively discusses the World Bank Group’s strategic and operational approaches and the substantive development issues addressed in small state programs that the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) assessed under the clustered Country Program Evaluation.
... See More + Based on this discussion, the report highlights specific considerations for effective future World Bank Group engagement in small states. Along with this report, the clustered country program evaluation (CPE) includes two regional program evaluations covering the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) during fiscal year (FY) 06–14, and Pacific Island countries (PICs) during FY05-15. It also includes more selective reviews of World Bank Group programs in four African states: Cabo Verde (FY05-14), Djibouti (FY05–15), Mauritius (FY07–15), and the Seychelles (FY07-15). Since the findings and suggestions going forward are based on a small and non-representative sample of country programs, they are not necessarily applicable to other small states. Given its selective coverage, the report highlights specific aspects of World Bank Group engagement with small states. It does not fully summarize the underlying country reports or compare World Bank Group program and country performance. Reading this report together with the underlying reports will provide a more comprehensive treatment.
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After nearly two decades of strong economic growth, in 2005 the economy was in difficulties. The loss of trade preferences in textiles in 2005, the anticipation of prospective reform to the European Union’s sugar protocol for 2006-10, and higher international oil prices had contributed to a slow-down in growth, rising unemployment and widening fiscal and current account deficits.
... See More + A new government was elected in 2005 which implemented a series of bold economic reforms (such as the elimination of the export processing zone (EPZ) regime, a progressive liberalization of the foreign trade and investment regime and simplification of labor laws) to redress the macro-economic imbalances and enhance competitiveness to facilitate efficient restructuring of the economy. This was achieved in large measure. Good policies also allowed the government to deal effectively with the global financial crisis of 2008. Following elections in 2010, a new (and fragile) coalition government was elected which emphasized fiscal stimulus and the pace of reforms slowed. Following a period of political instability, a new government was elected in 2014 with an overwhelming majority. However, as fiscal pressures mount, a sense of policy drift continues, threatening the gains achieved in recent years. The World Bank Group supported the government’s reform efforts throughout the evaluation period. Support was provided largely in the form of development policy loans (DPLs), complemented by analytic work and technical assistance (TA) for capacity building in various parts of the government. The World Bank’s strategy was aligned with the government’s priorities during 2005-10, but it failed to adapt when the appetite for reforms waned after a new coalition government took office following elections in 2010. The World Bank’s strategy was flexible and the program underwent significant changes to respond to changing government priorities and unfavorable external conditions. The World Bank’s program addressed the twin challenges of building resilience (macro-economic and social) and enhancing competitiveness that are common to other small states. Perhaps the World Bank could have been more selective in its areas of interventions.
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This Southwest Indian Ocean Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (SWIO RAFI) seeks to provide a solid basis for the future implementation of disaster risk financing through the improved understanding of disaster risk to participating island nations.
... See More + The SWIO RAFI included the collection of existing hazard and exposure data, and the creation of new hazard and exposure data, that were used in the development of risk assessment and risk profiles for The Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Zanzibar. In addition to the information in the risk profiles, the hazard and exposure data and the results of risk analysis will be collated and stored on open data geospatial risk information platforms, or GeoNodes, in each country and will be available to a wide range of end-users. The results will be available in the form of geospatial files, text files, and detailed final reports and can be used for sector specific development planning and implementation.
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This economy profile for Doing Business 2016 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Mauritius. To allow for useful comparison, the profile also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2016 is the 13th edition in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2015 Mauritius ranks 32. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2015 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period from January to December 2014).
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This Country Data Report summarizes the data from the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project for Mauritius. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering: i) voice and accountability, ii) political stability and absence of violence, terrorism, iii) government effectiveness, iv) regulatory quality, v) rule of law, and vi) control of corruption.
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Mauritius is a high middle-income country with low levels of poverty and inequality. The headcount poverty level was 6.9 percent in 2012; measured by the international standard of United States (U.S.) $2 per day (PPP), poverty was less than 1 percent.
... See More + On inequality, Mauritius also fared well compared to its peer middle-income countries. On the negative side, Mauritius’ growth has not been equally shared, despite the general improvement in welfare. The economy’s polarization was associated with a structural transformation from labor-intensive industries to services and knowledge-intensive industries. Inclusiveness remains the main challenge for the current growth pattern. When Mauritius will be able to become a high-income country will depend on its ability to improve the labor force’s skill set, develop infrastructure, and further improve the business environment to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and generate domestic investment. Reduction in inequality and boost of shared prosperity will require more growth and a more pro-poor pattern of growth. An increase in female labor force participation, reduction of high youth unemployment rates, improving the efficiency of the social protection system will reduce growing skills mismatch facilitating inclusive growth and eradicating poverty in Mauritius.
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Working Paper 90006 SEP 01, 2015
Sulla,Victor; Munoz Moreno,Rafael; Da Maia,Carlos Chadreque Penicela; Klapper,Leora; Van Oudheusden,Peter; Guven,Melis U.; Nikitin,Denis; Polodoo, Virendra; Randriankolona,Patrick Leon; Mazza,Jacopo; Heleniak,Timothy E.Disclosed
Mauritius has been a success story since independence, moving from low income to uppermiddle-income status. Close public-private partnerships facilitated private sector-led growth in astable macroeconomic and institutional environment.
... See More + The government implemented an activeindustrial policy to support private sector competitiveness while exploiting global trade nichescreated by preferential access arrangements. As a result, savings were high and reinvested indiversifying the economy. Starting as a mono-cropped, inward-looking economy, Mauritiusmoved toward an export oriented and diversified economy producing textiles, tourism, financialand ICT services. Mauritius is now at a crossroads. On the one hand, it can pursue a path where reinvigorated public investment boosts economic growth and reinforced public assistance enhancesredistribution. On the other hand, it can select a path where private sector identifies constraintsfor growth and the public sector is the enabling agent that removes them, ensuring that proceedsare adequately shared by targeted assistance and improved service delivery. The Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) is intended to assess the priorities of Mauritius to accelerate sustainable economic growth while improving the welfare of the less well off. The SCD aims to understand why income growth among the bottom 40 percent of the population has been low relative to the average income. The SCD also addresses how the rate and structure of aggregate growth can be improved to accelerate income growth among the bottom 40 percent of the population, as well as ensure that overall growth is sustainable.
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Ratings for the Infrastructure Project for Mauritius were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was substantial, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was moderately unsatisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: understanding the political economy risk and accounting for it in the project design helps to move forward with implementation despite difficult circumstances and changing government priorities. The teams must utilize restructuring when needed to simultaneously advance a project and to ensure alignment of outcomes, the Results Framework, and the PDO. Encouraging the Borrowers to conclude the staffing arrangements for project implementation before the Board approval and confirming the FM arrangements on flow of funds may reduce the implementation and disbursement delays. Designing performance based contract pilots for routine maintenance requires an advance and careful preparation and consideration of relevant technical knowledge and best practices in order to ensure adequate design and allocation of realistic funding and timeline. Readiness of the bidding documents for large road works before Board approval may reduce the likelihood of significant cos
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3303 JUN 25, 2015
Ratings for the First and Second Public Sector Performance Development Policy Loans Project for Mauritius were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was moderate, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: in an environment where the reform agenda was slowing down the team focused on areas that had more consensus to move forward. The DPL focused on achieving feasible reforms in the near term while laying the necessary building blocks to accelerate reforms in the medium term. Because public sector reforms would require consensus between diverse stakeholders and would affect the political equilibrium, the government continued to take a strategically incremental approach. The balanced approach in the preparation of the operations between Social Protections and Competitiveness translated in positive results as provided the government with a set of reforms that reinforced each other (i.e. impact of some trade reforms might be partially compensated by reforms on the social protection system). The loan was designed to include a certain degree of flexibility to allow the government to adapt the reform program as needed over time.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3247 JUN 22, 2015
Ratings for the Private Sector Competitiveness Development Policy Loans (DPL) Project for Mauritius were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, risk to development outcome was moderate, Bank performance was satisfactory, and Borrower performance was satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: the new programmatic DPL series was prepared in tandem with the public sector performance (PSP) DPL series and led to an integrated dialogue with the client, and joint internal processing, and targeting with better results. The PSC DPL series serve as an example of the Bank’s responsiveness and agility to meet a middle income client’s development priorities more geared towards policy and institutional support as opposed to public investment and capacity building. The loan was designed to include a certain degree of flexibility to allow the government to adapt the reform program as needed over time. Throughout the process of project design and preparation, the government placed great value on the knowledge package accompanying the DPL which contributes to reform planning and implementation. The results framework was realistic and with clear baseline data and targets that allowed proper monitoring of progress towards performance.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3400 JUN 15, 2015
Training funds are used to incentivize training in developing countries, but the funds are based on payroll taxes that lower the return to training.
... See More + In the absence of training funds, larger, high-wage and more capital intensive firms are the most likely to offer training unless they are liquidity constrained. If firms are not liquidity constrained, the fund could lower training investments. Using an administrative dataset on the Mauritius training fund, we find that the firms most likely to train pay more in taxes than they gain in subsidies. The smallest firms receive more benefits than they pay in taxes.
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Journal Article 100252 JAN 01, 2015
Kuku, Oluyemisi; Orazem, Peter F.; Rojid,SawkutDisclosed
