(4 minutes read)
- Covid-19 hit Mauritius’ economy very badly. Its growth shrank by 18%. This is the first time since last 40 years; the country is facing a recession
- That forced the Mauritian government to spend close to a billion dollars as pump priming
- Those were in the form of wage assistance and loans to industry including the MSMEs
- According to the IMF, the economy is set to bounce back registering a growth of 6.6% based on an estimate that its tourism sector is set to grow and reach the pre-Covid-19 levels much sooner than most of the economies
Covid-19 hit Mauritius’ economy very badly. Its growth shrank by 18%. This is the first time in 40 years; the country is facing a recession. That forced the Mauritian government to spend close to a billion dollars as pump priming. Those were in the form of wage assistance and loans to industry including the MSMEs. It is one of the countries telling the world that the pandemic is behind it. According to the IMF, the economy is set to bounce back, registering a growth of 6.6% based on an estimate that its tourism sector is set to grow and reach the pre-Covid-19 levels much sooner than most of the economies.
The Indian Ocean country has allowed vaccinated tourists to visit the country from July onwards and allowed them to stay in resort bubbles for 14 days, where they can enjoy hotel facilities including swimming pool and beach. Come October, as of now, there will not be any restrictions on visiting tourists.
The Island Nation will bring in at least 650,000 tourists over the next 12 months. The international airlines resume flights to the island. Yet, the expected figures of tourist flow are well below the 1.4m arrivals in 2019. Most of the tourists -58%-are from Europe. But the big question is about the Air Mauritius. It is a chronically loss making airline saddled with bad management and in 2019 it posted a US$24m loss. Presently, the state-run airline is evolving a business model to cut the cost of operations and to bring back it from the deep red. Sooner a rescue plan will be in place, which may entail huge cash infusion and even selling some of the aircrafts.
There is a reason for resurrecting the airline. More than 50% of tourists visiting the country use the Air Mauritius, besides it hauls 40% of the country’s air cargo capacity.
