Deficit down, outlook still negative: Moody's holds Mauritius at Baa3
Moody's has kept Mauritius at Baa3, its lowest investment grade, and left the outlook negative, even as the 2026-2027 Budget cuts the deficit to 3.7% of GDP from 6%. Public debt eases too, sliding to 85.5% after brushing 90%. The agency credits a shift away from blunt austerity toward wider, more progressive taxation.
The catch sits in the fine print. Much of the repair leans on money expected from the Chagos deal; strip that out, Moody's warns, and the deficit stays closer to 5%. Pension reform is the other worry, and a negative outlook tilts the next rating move down.
FCC opens its own inquiry into a lawyer held in Dubai
The Financial Crimes Commission (FCC), the state's financial crime agency, has opened an inquiry into lawyer and businessman Shaan Kundomal on its own initiative. Investigators began work Thursday at the FCC's Reduit headquarters, checking whether his firm Aurevya Ltd moved money through Mauritius unlawfully.
Emirati authorities held Kundomal at Dubai airport on 26 June after an investor accused him of a $3 million (Rs 144 million) fraud. The commission stresses nothing is proven yet.
India seconds a tax officer to run Mauritius Customs
India is sending one of its own tax officials to run Mauritian Customs. Gurkaran Singh Bains, an Indian Revenue Service officer, takes the Director of Customs chair at the Mauritius Revenue Authority on a three-year contract meant to modernise controls and speed up trade.
No power cut for 138 families hit by CEB's billing error
Some back bills top Rs 200,000, but the Central Electricity Board (CEB) will not cut power to the 138 Makan and Vallijee families landed with them. A meter reader had logged false consumption data for nearly two years, so their real bills went unpaid without anyone knowing. The board is now working on a phased fix.
Shorts
Boolell to chair the constitution review panel – The panel that will rewrite parts of the Constitution is official, chaired by Vinod Boolell.
Boris Tze Sek Sum dies weeks before turning 16 – Thirteen days after a Pointe-aux-Biches road crash, the pupil died on the cusp of his sixteenth birthday.
Karan Etwar, 31, is found murdered – Police are still hunting whoever killed Karan Etwar, a man orphaned young with few left to turn to.
Mauritius and Morocco to team up on water – Cabinet has cleared a water deal with Morocco as the island keeps hunting for ways to secure supply.
The PPS post may be making a comeback – Government is seriously weighing a return of Parliamentary Private Secretaries, junior posts scrapped years ago.
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