“The ‘Alliance du Changement’ offers a strong foundation for the deep reforms and restructuring the country needs…

Interview: Manou Bheenick

So, Navin, Paul, and Team, put your shoulder to the wheel; pull us out of this rut; and get on with the job!”

* ‘Let there be no doubt: in 2024, our economy is weaker than it has ever been at any point of regime change, whether in 1982 or 1995’

* ‘Social transfers should not become entitlements. Our Minister of Finance should not fancy himself as Father Christmas’

* ‘SAJ, at least the Mark One version as PM, was not a rogue and renegade. Jugnauth Jr turned out to be a different kettle of fish’

As Mauritius faces a range of economic challenges in 2024, the ‘Alliance du Changement’ government is tasked with delivering on its electoral promises while grappling with limited resources. One key pledge — the controversial 14th-month bonus — has been partially capped for those earning up to Rs50,000 due to financial constraints, as highlighted in the recent State of the Economy report.

To better understand the current situation, we turn to historical lessons. How does the 2024 crisis compare to the economic landscape of 1982? What insights does the current State of the Economy report offer that the IMF or Moody’s may have missed? As the nation faces the potential threat of credit rating downgrades  and the possibility of seeking external assistance, difficult decisions are ahead. Can the current political alliances, such as the Labour Party and MMM, provide the stability needed to steer through this tumultuous period?

Manou Bheenick offers his insights into these critical issues, drawing from his extensive experience in public service, having served as Minister of Economic Planning, Finance Minister, and later as Governor of the Bank of Mauritius. His background provides a unique perspective through which to assess the current situation and its historical parallels, offering informed reflections on the political and financial decisions that will shape the country’s future.

Mauritius Times: This is the time of year when media outlets around the globe name their Person of the Year. With 2024 being an eventful year for Mauritius and in light of the clear and uncompromising verdict delivered by the electorate in the recent elections, who stands out to you as most deserving of this title?

Manou Bheenick: It is in keeping with the spirit of the times to look back and seek to identify an individual who stood head and shoulders above his peers, his countrymen, or whatever the category of people we’re talking about, during the year. This exercise rarely goes without creating a ripple or two, as is evidently the case with the old/new President of the US.

I would unhesitatingly place the Mauritian voter on this pedestal, or more precisely, the 7 out of every 10 of them who enabled us to make such a clean sweep at the polls with the Alliance du Changement walking off with every contested seat. The other 3 also deserve a pat on the back for helping us achieve such an impressive turnout. So, well done, folks!

* Yet, that same electorate, which just a few weeks ago delivered its verdict on the leadership it desires for the country, can seemingly overnight become unreasonable when it comes to monetary benefits — such as the demand for a 14th-month bonus, a benefit that seems to be non-existent anywhere else. Isn’t that surprising?

We must not blame the electorate for what would appear to be an unreasonable, or worse an irrational, behaviour. I choose to make a distinction here between their electoral behaviour and their everyday behaviour as a citizen of the country going about the ordinary business of everyday life.

They chose wisely among the plethora of political parties and alliances, big and small, old and new, which spread out their wares to entice the electorate. The most enticing for the politically naive, immature and gullible was certainly the outgoing regime which had specialised in lulling our people into a false-comfort zone, with handouts and freebies of every description, while destroying the country’s work culture, productivity, employability, and ability to pay its way in a mercilessly competitive world. The electorate turned their back on the rampage of dilapidation and depredation and won back our country from the claws of the kleptocrats who have brought it to ruins.

Once you get to the ordinary business of life, you have to contend with the bad habits of depending on the public purse in the mistaken belief that it was free and costless and could be increased and extended at the Prime Minister’s mere will and would go on forever and ever. That was the kind of public impression that was, additionally, most conducive to diverting torrents of public funds into the grubby hands of party hacks and cronies.

When the reality of cooked public accounts, bankrupt public agencies, insolvent pension funds, massaged national statistics, rising state indebtedness, widening public sector deficits, chronic elevated inflation, and continual currency depreciation all begin to sink in, the electorate must wake up to this unwelcome reality, however indigestible it may seem.

* The ‘Alliance du Changement’ government has been forced to cap the 14th-month bonus for those earning up to Rs50,000 due to insufficient funding, as confirmed by The State of the Economy report. Some critics argue that the government should have anticipated this financial shortfall. Do you think that’s a fair assessment?

The 14th month happened in the in-between zone when we are yet to fully wake up and apprehend reality. Perhaps, there are others — and not just Mr(s) Public– who need to wake up…

Then, perhaps some decision-makers have an alternate view of electoral platforms. I have always held the view that an electoral platform is much like a railway platform: it’s something to get in on, not something to stand on, if you want to reach your destination.

Anyway, the aberration of a 14^th month is done, and it doesn’t make the task ahead any easier. Many of us do regret this first blunder from a government that gave the impression that it meant business. On this score, it’s proved startlingly little different from the discredited regime it supplanted.

However, if we put on our positive-thinking hat, there’s a glimmer of hope there after all: targeting isn’t any longer such a dirty word — unlike the dirty ones of the surprisingly foul-mouthed former Prime Minister! It can come in very handy as we cope with our newly- discovered straitened financial circumstances.

* You initiated a similar exercise on the state of the economy when you assumed office as Minister of Finance in December 1995. What additional insights could that report offer — now and in 2024 — that the IMF or Moody’s did not or could not have known about the real state of our economy, both in 1995 and today?

Yes, indeed, I did. Prime Minister Ramgoolam had agreed with me to have such an exercise conducted as a curtain-raiser for our strategising over the broad lines of our first budget.

The outgoing PM had raised the stakes by promising to raise Old Age Pensions, during the last week of the campaign, and we had little choice but to fall in line to avoid electoral disaster. We were not sure whether Sir Anerood Jugnauth had provided enough leeway for such unforeseen expenditure. So, we had to take stock of the financial situation before proceeding to pay the increased pensions,

We discovered that the last budget had glossed over a massive public borrowing in the form of a Floating Rate Note and had set aside an IMF-recommended fiscal reform which would have mobilised the extra resources.The underlying economic situation was much better; national statistics were not tampered with, budgets were budgets and not an exercise in public titillation and political chicanery, the Minister of Finance was competent, there was a policy dialogue with the IMF, and ignoring the latter’s advice on fiscal strategy was an understandable policy decision in the run-up to a general election.Read More… Become a Subscriber

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 27 December 2024