If you wanted to sell USD1,000 yesterday then you should have headed to Standard Bank which was offering Rs32.68 for each dollar. That would have put Rs1,178 more in your pocket than if you had visited a Shibani Finance Foreign Exchange counter (we are assuming there are no service charges or that they are the same across dealers).
If you were into buying a thousand bucks instead then it would have been wiser to bring Rs34,080 to Forex Direct. If you wanted to buy them at the MPCB they would have cost you Rs870 more.
Standard Bank had also the smallest spread on USD notes: Rs1.63. Shibani had the largest at almost Rs3.
You can access all the rates in one page from the BOM's website.
Isn't this something l'ACIM or the ICP should have on a blog everyday to help citizens? The Competition Commission should also track the spreads to bring them within international levels.
ICP nek tipe brosse souliers Sithanen ek ACIM ti pe faire greve de la faim. Kot zot pe pense fer ene blog. Fode gouvernman done zotte la monnaie pou zotte fer sa pas vrai?
ReplyDeleteI found this blogpost on Google blog search: http://taxjustice.blogspot.com/2010/06/mauritius-gateway-for-illicit-flows-to.html
ReplyDeletegood information!
ReplyDeletemerci.
A great many thanks to Bruno for giving us that interesting blog. Incredible that our so-called journalists have never dared write on such topics... Tous des journalistes mercenaires like GC ki zordi fine vine ene redacter en chef ek ape ekrir bel bel editorial dans ene journal-magazine ki bizen apel li ene descente du lit de Navin !!!
ReplyDelete@ SJ
ReplyDeleteI never knew that such a large "spread" was legal... Sa bizness-la couma dire propriétaire casino-ça: pile je gagne, face tu perds!
@ Bruno:
Mo bourzwa, wa'dire ou'nn découvert enn nouveau skelett dans placard... Éna fermé la-dans?
Btw, the articles of The Thinker are of high quality - thank you very much!
The market is free, you dont like x, y, z banks just do as you wish, acim and peers can voice out concern but will this change anything in regards to the spread setting, its a big NO, as the local market has its inefficiencies that no one can control or come up with a business friedly solution
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. It's amazing how they rip us off!!!! Whaoooooooooooooo!
ReplyDelete@The Banker: yeah right!!! "local market has its inefficiencies" this sounds a lot like the people who keep asking for a depreciation of our rupee. I for one do not think that banks should make the kind of profit that they have been making.
ReplyDelete@ Amonymous of June 4, 2010 9:29 AM:
ReplyDelete"Incredible that our (...) journalists have never dared write on such topics"
Bein, samem ki appel "journalisme d'investigation" ça. Et pou capave faire ça, ou bizin ena fiel pe pousse partout ar ou. Eski ou trouve l'express / le mauricien /defimedia pou alle investigate lor ki hormone ki metter are ti-poussin ki grandi et paré pou emballer dans l'espace 3 semaines, ki-faire 2 loto inn mem marque fini faire 2 morts lors autoroute mem plass mais sans ki ena kik enquete / sanctions lors importateur, ou bien pou donne enn dossier détaillé lors méthodes ki dimounes servi pou contourne MRA, ou pe expose bann saki contourne bann standards pou ecoule bann produits (sakioulé: automobile, piece rechange, pharmaceutique, zouzou z'enfant, linz etc...) ki pas respecter normes (sanitaires, copyrights, safety, etc, etc)? Hein? Non? Abé ki-fer? En mon humble opinion, c'est parski ena trop boukou lobby/vested interests/relations incestueuses dans bann liens bizness-groupes médias-politique pou capave trouve la-vérité. Pour preuve, zis l'express ki gagne koutt rotin bazar depi ar Piti-la ek Navin, pas le mauricien, ni defimedia. Bann sources d'info ki pé gagne crédibilité aster c'est bann saki complétement décentralisé, couma blogs/tweets, non pas bann gros groupes médias.
@ The Banker
ReplyDelete"that no one can control or come up with a business friedly solution"
Merci pour cette belle note d'optimisme et d'espoir en ces temps de merde! Donc, si mo comprend ou bien, si la-banque inefficient, li bizin contigne faire bizness, mem si pou ress vivant, fauder li ena enn grand spread...? OK, péna problème, alle demann enn bookmaker si li vann enn pari plis bas ki so concurrent (c'est-à-dire, si partout pé vann enn souval 500, li li vann mem souval pou 400 selment) eski so bizness pou contigne ress vivant. Si par malerr li dire ki oui, abé ça, sirrment sous couvert so bizness ki ineeficient li pé rode blanchi l'argent sale ça...
Non, attane enn koutt! Pas ça-mem ki pé dérouler la? Bann saki plis compétent en la matière eski ti capave remett moi lor rail enn-koutt siouplé?
On a side note, the bank rates are usually fixed. However if you try a few of the money changers, you can always bargain for a much better rate than published!
ReplyDeleteIf I really want to change foreign currency, then you have to do your homework first. The same applies for everything that you want to buy. It is our responsibility as the buyer/consumer.
@akagugo:
Some very interesting issues you raised there about Investigative journalism. Like you mentioned it is the lobbies that control the media!
A very good piece about the practice of giving away state lands and making a quick money out of it was published in the papers some while back. I cant remember which newspaper it was, but most likely it should have been L'Express.
In that article, someone claimed that the PM had informed him about the plot of land that was been given out. Should ICAC not investigate this, for abuse of power/divulging confidential information?
That's why I suggeste dto Sanjay that we should build up that core and publish something like 'Economic and Political Weekly' which exists in India where a considerable amount of space would be dedicated to 'investigative journalism' and treat those subjects you rightly mentioned. To cut costs drastically, we can start it on the Web itself.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: wi, ACIM ek ICP bizin reorganiz zot et vin buku plis aktif.
ReplyDelete@Bruno: thks for the interesting link.
@akagugo: spread la buku tro larz dan mem marse. Ti pou interessant guete kuma line varie a travers le temps ek kuma line sanze depi ki ena plis zwer ladan aster. Si linformasyon sirkil pli bien li pu vin inpe pli effisyen. Mais competitive commission ti bizin kass so somey ek trap sa dossier la jaldi jaldi ek etidie striktir marse la pu fer li vin pli kompetitif.
@Vikramg: wi, importan fer homework mais importan oussi ban institisyons fonksyoner.
@akagugo and @anonymous
ReplyDeleteKi legal spread zot p cozer, market is free you dont like just move on, FX deals represent a major income revenue stream for all banks thanks to the insignificant value of the rupee, imagine if we could pay our exports with MUR resulting in limited conversion, hahaha ... banks will cry, my bonus will decrease... and just wanted to tell you, novices, that all your blabla does not have any capabilities to force banks to review that margin in a situation where they are price makers, go and ask the beloved ex-minis trou currently at BoM for help, may he could enlighten you on the current situation and by the way showing his lack of competence to bring competition in this market ...
The Banker: Ene pake zafer kav fer pu ramene ban spread la pli rezonab. Ban labank fer tro buku profi ek sa nwir nu lekonomi -- zot va fer inpe mwins profit lor zot FX deals.
ReplyDeleteBtw, si nu kompran bien ou p dire kav fer spread la vinn pli kompetitif mais Bheenick pa kon fer sa. B dire nu ki bizin fer kumsa si vremem ou kone.
Sinon, wen bankier de profession?
@ The Banker:
ReplyDeleteMerci boukou enkor enn fois pou ou bann notes d'espoir en ces temps de merde noire!
"you, novices, that all your blabla does not have any capabilities to force banks to review that margin in a situation where they are price makers"
Moi, novice, mo bien konné ki mo 'powerless' contt bann la-banque, no problem. Mais mo ena enn la-liste contacts ki habituer voyazé. Mo'nn fini e-mail zott ça link-la (Merci Mr SJ): . Dépi semaine dernière, zott déza pé faire bann transactions en devises après consultation du site en question, parett zott bien satisfait, ek ki zott pou forward ça ti-link-la zott lezott camouade... Shopping around for rates will continue increasing (i don't know how far), mais pas perr ou, mo penser ki bann ti-profiterr / price makers pou commence comprend-li bien bien vite (jaldi-jaldi). It will take some time, but it will come, don't worry...
By the way, can you please explain - I sincerely fail to understand - how the Governor of the Central Bank can "bring competition in this market"?
I, the novice, salutes you, and thanks you for your kind attention to my humble query.
PS: I can't speak for others, but Mr Bheenick is not a "beloved" for me... à mes yeux, il n'est qu'un fonctionnaire - sous contrat, celà va de soi - comme un autre. Comme monsieur Soomarooah, par exemple. Ou comme monsieur Mansoor.
@ The Banker:
ReplyDeleteAyo, mo bliyé: Eski ou ti pé rode mean "profane" (ki pas konner,un individu qui n'est pas informée d'un fait) au lieu de "novice" (débutant,a person who is new to a field or activity) par hasard? C'est vrai, mo considère moi enn dimoune ki pas konne bann zaffer ki touche à la finance à l'économie tousala (parksi mo profession remotely related to them) mais mo pas comprend kott le fait ki ou pas ena enn spécialisation en la matière faire ki enn ki pas konner fauder reste trankil? Mo cwar ki ici dans ça blog-la, tou kalité question gagne droit poser justement pou éclaire bann saki pas konner.
Et c'est ça le but principal mo cwar: Kozé li-dir! Pas hésiter, kozé. Poz question, débatte, dakor, pas dakor: C'est coumsa ki ou pas pou mort couyon.
@akagugo: enn ti Rs1,000 dan pos plizier nu bann kamwad ki p sanz pitaye c pa de tro non? Pli importan mo kwar se sa feeling ki ou gayner kan ounn gayn enn meyer deal la.
ReplyDeleteKisana kontan peye plis ki bizin? Leve lamin enn kut.
@ SJ:
ReplyDelete"Kisana kontan peye plis ki bizin? Leve lamin enn kut."
Siouplé, The Banker, nou'nn comprend ou, asterr ou capav baisse ou DÉ la-mé...
:-)
Thank you for the info. I will forward it to as many friends as possible and ask them to do the same.
ReplyDeleteSaving money this way will make more money available for the purchase of condoms.