Last Saturday, India has granted a credit line of $500 million to Mauritius so that it supports the public sector, in a bid to develop infrastructure projects.

The related agreement was signed in the presence of Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius, and several other Indian and Mauritian authorities.

According to the Jugnauth, “the money will be paid through the Export-Import Bank of India to SBM Mauritius Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. This entity created by the SBM will disburse the money for various projects that will be managed by companies to be created. They will be required to repay the money afterwards. The government will only vouch for each payment, not the $ 500 million. That is why, according to the definitions of the International Monetary Fund, the Redeemable Preference Shares are considered as a form of Equity Funding and are not recorded in the public debt".

"We were entitled to favorable conditions to negotiate this line of credit at a fixed interest rate of 1.8% over a period of 20 years", he added.

Fiacre E. Kakpo