As from 12 April 2024, Air Mauritius will resume a weekly flight on Fridays to Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, acclaimed healthcare hub and the gateway to the southern part of India.

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Seychelles is successfully balancing conservation and economic development by tapping innovative financing instruments. Seychelles was the first country to issue a blue bond and is now the second African country, after Rwanda, to access the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The latter is a funding that aims to support countries with limited budgets to address long-term challenges, such as climate change.

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The Public Enterprises Act repeals the Public Enterprise Monitoring Commission Act 2013. This legislation provides for the continuation of the Public Enterprise Monitoring Commission and strengthens the governance framework for the oversight and monitoring of public enterprises. This new Act will reinforce the framework
for the operation, governance and oversight of state-owned enterprises, thereby promoting transparency and accountability in the functioning of the latter.

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The IMF Executive Board has approved two new programmes to support Seychelles’ economic development through the Extended Fund Facility for an amount of USD 56 million and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility of USD 46 million, both spanning over a three-year period. Post the economic hit inherited from to the pandemic, Seychelles will avail of the two facilities to sustain its macroeconomic stability, boost inclusive growth and build resilience to climate change amongst others.

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A delegation flew from Seychelles to Australia with key objectives:

1. To establish a relationship for a sustainable cooperation within the Australian ministries of Foreign Affairs and Treasury, as well as the ATO and ABF;

2. To explore options for educational scholarships and training opportunities for Seychelles on Tax Administration & Customs Management;

3. To identify areas and modes of technical assistance between the ATO, ABF and the SRC

4. To share experiences and know-how on the development of key strategic areas of revenue administration and customs management, including workforce planning and Human Resources.

This delegation aimed at reinforcing the ties between the two countries and exchange expertise to to boost the tax administration, tax collection efficiency and enhance capacity building of Seychelles, amongst others.

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Seychelles hosted a delegation from the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group with the aim to continue monitoring the level of de-risking of member states. A particular emphasis was placed on the termination of correspondent banking relationships and its consequences on countries. The project team, of which Seychelles is the co-chair together with Angola, has as task to continually evaluate the de-risking levels within the region based on the information provided by countries and to prepare a report – highlighting the weaknesses, deficiencies and support structures – which will be presented to a Task Force meeting in Botswana in September 2023.

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Standard & Poor’s reviewed upwards the investment status of Mauritius to a Baa1-Baa3 rating, strengthening the Island’s position as the only International Financial Centre with an investment grade rating across Africa. Standard and Poor’s confirms that Mauritius will continue attracting GBC inflows: “Mauritius has over the past couple of decades also positioned itself as a global financial center, which is now significantly larger than that of peers in the region and approaching the size of more advanced global financial centers”.

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Effective 29 October 2023, there will be daily direct flights from London Gatwick Airport to Mauritius as the national carrier, Air Mauritius, shifts its operations from London Heathrow to London Gatwick Airport. Air Mauritius will be operating flights as per below schedules (can be subject to change):

• MK 042 MRU-LGW Monday to Sunday 23h05 07h00

• MK 053 LGW-MRU Monday to Sunday 15h55 07H15

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The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the BoM kept the Key Repo Rate unchanged at 4.50% per annum (as at June 2023). With the domestic economy gaining momentum in 2022 and global cross-border investment activities sustained, the economy grew by 8.7% in 2022 and a similar trend is expected across 2023. BoM forecasts inflation to decrease to about 6.8% in 2023 whilst hitting the target range of 2% to 5% in 2024. All these macroeconomic considerations have driven the decision of the MPC to leave the key rate unchanged.

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