State sells its empty Washington envoy residence for $2.14 million
The old official residence of the Mauritian ambassador in Washington sold on 19 August for $2.14 million, Foreign Affairs Minister Ritish Ramful told Parliament on Tuesday. The state had bought it in 1995 for $1.43 million.
It sat empty since October 2021, still the bill kept running: renting a home for the former ambassador cost $467,000, about Rs 21.5 million, up to November 2024. Ramful said keeping up state property abroad is the job of ministers and heads of mission. Four years empty and half a million in rent, and the sale clears just one tab of many.
Mauritius may buy armoured cars for its December summit
Where does a government find five armoured cars in a hurry? Mauritius may need four to five of them before it hosts the US-Africa Business Summit 2026 in December, government sources say.
Hosting a summit that size means moving motorcades and visiting dignitaries safely, and the fleet on hand falls short. It also lands days after a row over the Prime Minister's official car, so any new security spend will draw its own questions in the House.
The hidden 4.25% tax buried in your bank's rate spread
About 4.25%. That is the gap between what Mauritian banks charge to lend and pay on savings, which one analysis calls an invisible tax on households and small firms. When policy rates move but little of it reaches borrowers, the spread does the earning. Money that might fund a business pads a margin instead.
Mauritius is getting older and having fewer children
Fewer births, longer lives, and a population tilting grey: a fresh look at Mauritius's demographics flags the strain ahead on jobs, pensions and public finances. A shrinking working-age base pays for a growing retired one. Family patterns shift with it. None of this arrives overnight, which is why it stays easy to ignore until it cannot be.
Shorts
Road bill passes, House rises to October – MPs passed the Road Traffic Amendment Bill without changes, then adjourned to 20 October.
Man held over a Metro Express assault – Police held a man accused of molesting a woman, 30, aboard a Metro Express train near Beau-Bassin.
Three rob and abduct a woman of 70 – In Rivière-du-Rempart, three men, one with a pistol, seized a woman of 70 and took Rs 550,000.
Absa warns of a fake banking app – Absa Mauritius told customers a bogus mobile app is being used to phish their logins.
Fewer Mauritians flew abroad this year – Outbound travel slipped 3.1% in the first half of 2026, to 165,211 trips from 170,507.
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