FM Warns Banks Not To Mess Up With Him

And to play a more active role supplying working-capital to the many SMEs that Government wants to see created. If they don't banks should expect problems from him. Banks have responded that they have helped the development of every sector in Mauritius. Mr. Lutchmeenaraidoo also said that banks were the only sector which makes money without working hard.

A few years ago Mauritius was deemed to be held back by some pretty bad interest rate spreads.

Taste Genius At 60 While Apple Expected To Upend Electric Car

Jobs would have turned 60 today. USPS had promised a stamp for him this year. Hopefully they will have it out today if it's not already. I wonder which pic they will use. I have a preference for the Steve Jobs at the time the Mac was initially launched. Mozambique already has a nice set of them since ...2011. Hungary too did something after he died in the last quarter of that year. Plus now there is an Erno Toth-designed statue in Budapest. Nothing on the Apple website right now. But this could change later today.

And yeah the magicians at 1 Infinite Loop are apparently working on an electric car. Vroooommmmmm!

Stray Dogs To Be Put To Sleep

The Ministry of Environment has identified 42 public beaches where these loose dogs are a problem. So they are going to catch them and euthanise them after three days if they are not adopted. Stray dogs are not only a problem on beaches. They are literally a problem everywhere in Mauritius.

But aren't there any alternatives to killing them so fast? Maybe not for those who have rabies. The rest could benefit from what has been done elsewhere.

Government To Destroy Biometric Database

This piece of good news was announced yesterday in the 2015-2019 Programme Speech. Along with a number of laudable intentions like

• making SC/HSC exams free;
• an SME bank which will invest Rs10 billion over the next five years;
• a minimum wage bill;
• focus on job creation for Mauritians: 15,000 will be created every year with many in the public sector;
• a football academy will be set up;
• ensuring competitive energy prices;
• setting up a vascular surgery unit to reduce the number of amputations;
• and organising referendums on crucial national issues. 

There are also some very vague promises such as 'inflation will be kept under control'. Hmm. An inflation target is a must for two reasons: one to preserve the hard-won anti-inflation capital and two to keep depreciation-happy Basant Roi on a tight leash. Government also wants to include a dose of PR in our electoral system. That's a dangerous proposition that needs extensive debate and a referendum.

Let's see how well this plan is implemented.

Basant Roi Back, Rupee Down By 3%, Already

By yesterday our currency had lost 3.28% of its value against the dollar. In the mere 18 trading days since Basant Roi has been back at the BoM. He is known to have a strong and silly depreciation bias. In fact if you had to chart the number of times he has asked for a lower value for our rupee -- when he was not in a position to sink it himself -- you would literally have to use a log scale.

I hope Mr. Lutchmeenaraidoo's idea of a "second economic miracle" doesn't involve making Mauritius increasingly insignificant in the world. And keeping local pump prices artificially higher after oil prices collapsed is kind of contradictory about making SMEs the backbone of our economy. And is oblivious to the fact that he is presenting a budget in a few weeks. Besides we've been suffering from such a disconnect for way too long. And for very wrong reasons.

All has not been bad though. Swiftly increasing pensions to Rs5,000 will surely help restore some disposable income to those who need it the most. And that cannot do our economy any harm.

World On Display in Milan, For Six Months

Beginning May 1st for the Universal Exposition. Over 130 countries are going to showcase their answer to the expo's theme of "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life". It's a hell of a great opportunity to brand a country -- or to get inspired how to do it.

Many Africans countries will be there -- including the Seychelles, Rwanda and Ziwbabwe -- but I didn't see Mauritius in the list. Too busy with the Mo Ibrahim index? Or is it the Doing Business index?

If you're not heading to Milan you might want to get busy trying one of these 123,506 recipes.

Fans Shocked Gerrard Leaving Liverpool

For sure at 34 he doesn't have the legs he used to when they won the 2005 Champions League in Istanbul. Carrying the Reds almost single-handedly for several seasons will wear you down. And I don't think it's reasonable to expect him to keep on doing that to compensate for weaknesses elsewhere in the team. They could have adjusted their game to keep him playing as a deep-lying midfielder like 35-year-old Andre Pirlo is for Juventus.

I'm not too impressed either by the recent signings of Brendan Rodgers. The Reds have been playing some really sloppy football recently. At times it seems they can't even manage some really basic passes.

What's the Deal About Pesticides?

We sometimes hear that way too much is used in Mauritius. And that doctors in Singapore know we are from that cute Indian Ocean island just by looking at our blood tests. Friends will often recommend that we don't buy vegetables which appear to have been photoshopped. Or that we wash them thoroughly. But is that all we can do?

I don't think so as we are aware that an overuse of these chemicals will have more people developing cancer. And ruin our habitat. It shouldn't be difficult to at least have an audit trail. And start producing great vegetables on an appropriate scale. That will not hurt our trade relationships with the rest of the world.

Any thoughts on this?

Kozelidir Person of The Year 2014

Attributed to the Mauritian voter for acknowledging clearly that she's got the Rolls Royce of systems of government.

Did QZ8501 Crash Because of Bad Planning?

It's not a secret that the number of planes flying at any moment in time has been increasing. We know that when we check passenger statistics and the number and size of plane orders announced by major airlines. We can also get a nice visual of a region of interest. 

So what seems to have happened with Flight QZ8501 is that there were no paths at 38,000 feet -- to escape a thunderstorm -- that were free. Looks like someone said it was ok to fly that many planes. I guess it's ok on a day of clear weather.

There are limits to everything.

Bheenick Dismissal is Inelegant and Silly

Our learned Central Bank Governor was sacked on Friday probably on the basis of an irrelevant section of our excellent constitution. This is kind of inelegant towards a citizen of this country who has been a great Governor. You might want to check how the inflation rate -- the biggest enemy of the poor -- behaved during his tenure. Have a look at the external value of our rupee too. A smoother transition -- like the last three times we changed Governors -- would have been more appropriate for the kind of country we believe Mauritius to be.

And the nearly eight years Manou has been at the head of the BoM has made life a bit easier for at least two groups of people. The first one is an overwhelming majority of Mauritians who experienced the tangible benefits of a common sense approach to managing monetary conditions. The second one bloggers like me who had one less thing to rant against.

He will be a tough -- but not impossible -- act to follow. Because there are many people -- across all party lines -- who have gotten used to the anti-inflation capital he helped build. Despite having to deal with Finance Ministers from very small parties who seemed to be confused about monetary policy -- and many other things. At best. And a Financial Secretary who appeared to have a natural predisposition to establish contact with little green creatures that wear an antennae.

And silly because his successor hasn't been nominated yet. 

2014: The Year in Review (Q2)

April: 815 million voters get ready to elect Indian Government. Seeneevasen was dead against PR. Berenger heckled during politburo meeting. SLO should craft referendum legislation. Serac kills 16 on Everest. John Paul II cannonised. Gabo gone at 87.

May: Ayrton: 20 years already. Gary Becker dies at 83. Prorogation of Parliament is telling sign process is poor. Modi bags big electoral victory. Drafting of bill not most difficult part.

June: ISIS captures Mosul. Electoral reform made for three. Shakira ready for World Cup in Brazil. Constitution temporary provision bill published. Comic genius offers life perspectives. Chiellini shows Suarez bite marks.

Read the review for Q1, Q3 and Q4.

2014: The Year in Review

January: One Ramgoolam gets closer to another. STC offers lower basmati prices. The Mac is 30. One way CSO can reduce its carbon footprint. PM struggling intellectually with white paper.

February: How our Constitution might help refresh the political scene. Scores lose life in Boko Haram attacks. iStamp to arrive in 2015. Worst Ebola breakout kills thousands. Paco de Lucia dead at 66.

March: Berenger electoral reform proposal is a dangerous flop. Burkas and sarees don't make rapes less likely. Nine years later Ramgoolam's cake still baking. Flight MH370 disappears mysteriously. How to clean up Mumbai smartly. After 389 days Ramgoolam publishes white paper, gives us 42 days to send submissions.

Read the review for Q2, Q3 and Q4.

Catastrophic Week-end Turns 35

Between 21 and 23 December of the International Year of the child a pretty little thing called Claudette visited us. Probably because she got jealous that Pele had kicked a few footballs at our George V Stadium a couple of years before. If I remember correctly we celebrated Xmas without electricity as Mauritian power lines didn't offer any major chewing problem for an intense tropical cyclone.

The upshot is that the 3-day visit helped put our economy into a depression: a 10% contraction. 1979 was also the year of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident which was essentially due to a flawed interface design. And of a major switch of how the US Fed carried out monetary policy.

If you plan of drinking in the next few days, don't drive, take a cab or pick one of your friends as a designated driver. Staying alive can be a lot of fun.

SAJ Returns To Parliament, History Accelerates

We now have a Prime Minister who has lived 84 years or 3 years more than my all-time favourite at the time he lost power in 1982. Today is also the first time the Speaker of our National Assembly was addressed as Madam. More history is on the way at Le Reduit when Ms. Fakim will replace Kailash Purryag. The sooner the better.

SAJ is also making a comeback 11 years after having announced his retirement in 2003. This never happened before. Mr. Lutchmeenaraidoo is back too for a third term -- or a fourth one -- after almost a quarter of a century. If he does that again -- assuming he loses his seat in 2019 -- he will be eligible for one of those phones that centenarians receive.

So a larger pension has been paid and there will be a Rs10 billion item in the next budget to unleash the creative capital of Mauritius.

Not missing Sithanen and Mansoor by any chance?

Mauritius Says No To Wicked Plan of Scheming Trio

By booting Ramgoolam out of power, barely keeping Berenger in the Opposition for a third straight term -- but not before showing him who's the real boss in No.19 -- and preventing Sithanen from getting into Parliament. In what is probably the most important general election since the one that made us an independent country 47 years ago.

So yeah, Mauritian voters have sent a loud and clear message to politicians that they don't want anybody to mess up their constitution and electoral system and that they want the policies which have been creating a huge amount of poverty since 2005 -- due to a massive ministerial skills mismatch -- to end immediately.

They might have voted quite differently if these important issues had not been lumped together with the normal business of electing a government. And if no 84-year old fox had been there to capitalise on this monumental political blunder.

Will Vishnu Make An Economic Miracle?

It depends how you define a miracle. But I'll tell you this. Compared with Sithanen almost anything will feel like a miracle.

Voting centres open as from 7 am. Go Mauritius! Go!

Reforms See Poor Make Tiny Progress

Indeed the 10% poorest households saw their real disposable income increase by only 6.2% for the five years ending in 2012. This compares very unfavourably to the huge progress recorded after the first mandate of Navin Ramgoolam as PM -- Bheenick and Bunwaree (BB) were his Finance Ministers. At that time the weakest households of our country saw their purchasing power increase by a very healthy 48.6% -- that's 7.8X the 2012 increase -- over the levels of the preceding half-decade. 

The reforms have been very good for the 10% wealthiest though: their disposable income has surged by almost 30%. Of course the increased inequality has helped Mauritius clock some of the worst growth rates in more than 35 years: 2014 will be the fourth consecutive year with one under 4%. Which is half what was promised to us in 2005. And the basis for the 15% flat tax.

Happy voting!

63% of Poll Say Ramgoolam's Side Won't Take More Than 30 Seats

4.6% think they will get a 60-0. While 31.6% say SAJ's party will grab at least 40 seats. Only 14.3% predict LP/MMM will get a 3/4 supermajority to screw up our excellent Constitution and system of Government. The scenario with the most votes -- and a 1/4 chance of happening -- is Ramgoolam/Bérenger ending up with between 21 and 25 seats. The next most popular pick is them getting five seats less.

Let's see. 

92% of Poll Say We Don't Need More MPs

Only 6% think we need more. Really?