Latest News

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Mauritius brought down the Key Repo Rate from 4.00 % per annum to 3.50 % per annum, with effect from 6th September 2017. This decision was taken after weighing the risks to growth and inflation.

The MPC observed that the domestic economy grew at 3.4 % year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, compared to 3.8 % for the same period in 2016 and 4.2 % in the fourth quarter of 2016. The Committee further noted that while investment spending was bolder, final consumption expenditure remained moderate and export of goods and services kept decreasing. Hence, the MPC viewed that there was a strong need to stimulate investments into the productive sectors of the economy and projects that real GDP to grow from 3.6% to 3.8% for 2017 and to 4.2% for in 2018.

The Committee also observed that, except for any major shock, the forecast for headline inflation is about 4.0 % for 2017 and about 3.8 % in 2018, and views that inflation is unlikely to pick up significantly as the base effects eventually taper off.

As from 30th October 2017, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will operate a direct flight from Amsterdam to Mauritius in cooperation with Air Mauritius.

Through this partnership, KLM and Air Mauritius will offer their customers with a year-round flight from Amsterdam to Mauritius. In addition, KLM’s vast network in Europe, in particular its positioning on the mega travel hubs of Paris and Amsterdam, will certainly be a significant addition to tourism and business air connectivity to Mauritius.

The Board of Investment in collaboration with Air Mauritius, the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority and the Mauritius Film Development Corporation, will organise the very first edition of the Mauritius International Film Festival next month.

The festival will take place from 5th-8th October 2017 and will welcome the participation of high-profile international celebrities from Hollywood, Bollywood, China and the EU film industries.

This event will put the spotlight on Mauritius as a filming destination of choice for both local and international producers.

As previously communicated to our readers in a past edition of our newsletter, the Government of Mauritius, through its investment promotion agency – the Board of Investment (BOI), is actively promoting the island as an attractive filming destination to international filmmakers.

Several initiatives including the Film Rebate Scheme (FRS) have been implemented by the BOI and some very positive results have already emanated therefrom.

In fact, Steven Knight’s upcoming star-studded movie, Serenity, featuring Uma Thurman, Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway as the lead cast, will be shot in Mauritius as from mid-July and is expected to be wrapped up by the end of August 2017. This is a grand premiere for Mauritius as it is the first time that a Hollywood movie is being shot entirely in Mauritius.

The choice of Mauritius as the filming destination for Serenity was largely influenced by its attractive FRS which is available to both local and international film producers. Under the FRS, film production companies are entitled to benefit from a rebate of up to 40% of the Qualifying Production Expenditures incurred in Mauritius. In Serenity’s case, producers will be eligible for a refund of circa. USD 7 million.

For more information about the Film Rebate Scheme, please liaise with your usual contact person at ITL or write to us on info@intercontinentaltrust.com

In our March 2015 newsletter, we informed our valued readers of ITL’s groundbreaking initiative to file an application with the Financial Services Board (FSB) alongside a consortium of other stakeholders including Bravura, Trifecta Capital™, Capital Markets Brokers, NWK and Global Environmental Markets (GEM) to register 4 Africa Exchange (4AX) as a new licensed stock exchange in South Africa.

We are now pleased to announce that the FSB has granted 4AX with an exchange license on 31 August 2016.

About 4AX

4AX will provide a licensed listings platform to companies seeking a well regulated, reputable and cost effective listing and aims to attract listings from all qualifying issuers with a particular focus on companies with a market capitalisation of between R100 million to R8 billion. 4AX also brings to the market a unique model to accommodate qualifying issuers who currently trade over-the-counter (“OTC”), as 4AX will utilize a centralised and regulated restricted share validation model.

4AX will have its own listing requirements and exchange rules which have been drafted based on developing market exchanges of a similar size, providing companies as issuers with a less onerous regulatory environment, whilst concurrently giving investors comfort that there is sufficient regulation and surveillance in place to protect their investments.

Transactions on the 4AX-platform will be executed via a matching engine algorithm that will match bids and orders submitted to the exchange in a fair and orderly manner. To reduce the cost of trading the 4AX partners have designed an innovative clearing and settlement arrangement which will streamline the financial and physical clearing and settlement of transactions.

For more information about 4AX, please liaise with your usual contact person at ITL or visit the 4AX website: http://www.4ax.co.za/

In a previous edition of our newsletter, we informed our readers that a protocol amending the India-Mauritius DTAA was signed by both Contracting States on 10th May 2016 (the “Protocol”).

The Protocol has now been ratified and is effective as from 19th July 2016.

As a reminder, the key change brought about by the Protocol is the amendment to Article 13 “Capital Gains” whereby the taxing rights on capital gains (CG) will lie with India as from 1st April 2017.

In order to preserve the position of existing investors, a phase-wise approach has been proposed for the shift from the residence-based taxation to the source-based taxation, through the implementation of:

(i) a grandfathering provision for investments acquired prior to 1st April 2017; and
(ii) a 2-year transition period from 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2019 when Mauritian companies will benefit from a reduced tax rate on CG subject to meeting the conditions of a newly introduced “Limitation of Benefits” clause.

The other salient change was made to Article 11 of the DTAA with the introduction of withholding tax of 7.5% on the interest arising on debt claims/loans made by Mauritian resident banks to Indian companies after 31st March 2017.

In case you missed our newsletter on the Protocol, you can access it here

As per the Model-1 Intergovernmental Agreement signed between Mauritius and the US, all Mauritius Financial Institutions shall report certain information on identified US Reportable Accounts to the Mauritian Competent Authority, i.e. the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA).

The deadline for FATCA reporting for the period ended 31 December 2015 was initially set at 31 July 2016. However in a recent communiqué, the MRA has announced that the aforesaid reporting deadline has been extended to 31 August 2016.

Click here to view the official announcement from the MRA.

Should you require any assistance with regard to FATCA, please feel free to contact us (info@intercontinentaltrust.com).

The World Economic Forum recently released the Global Information Technology Report 2016 (the “Report”) which measures the drivers and the progress of the information and communication technologies across 139 countries through the Network Readiness Index (NRI). The Report remarked that the overall global trend remains positive and whilst differences prevailed across countries in terms of networked readiness, efforts were being made to close the digital gap.

The NRI is comprised of 4 main categories (subindexes), 10 subcategories (pillars), and 53 individual indicators.

With an overall score of 4.4, Mauritius occupies the 49th position worldwide but remains 1st in Africa.

Click here to access the full Report.