## Mauritius

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**Canonical URL:** [Mauritius](https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-publications/external/pubs/nft/2005/mcsg/_mcsg.pdf)

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### Overview and key achievements
- Per capita GDP: about US$4,600 in 2003, up from about US$320 in the early 1970s.
- Structural transformation: economy at independence in 1967 was dependent entirely on the sugar crop and diversified rapidly into textiles, then tourism, and more recently into information and communication services.
- Labor market: the large pool of unemployed labor has been absorbed over the development period.
- Macroeconomic stability: maintained over the last 20 years, supporting diversification and growth.
- External positioning: country is well positioned to benefit from increasing demand for information processing.

### Factors behind sustained growth (findings)
- Macroeconomic policy:
  - Successful pursuit of macroeconomic stability despite adverse exogenous shocks.
- Trade strategy:
  - Successful strategy of trade openness, described as somewhat heterodox.
- Institutions:
  - Development of a solid institutional framework that promoted growth, including respect for the rule of law, political stability, an efficient administration, and a favorable regulatory framework.
- Financial system:
  - Rapid development of a well-developed financial system that contributed to supporting economic diversification and growth.
- Human capital and infrastructure:
  - High level of human capital and quality of physical infrastructure supported adaptability and continued growth.

### Emerging and medium-term challenges (policy priorities)
- Fiscal sustainability:
  - The government budgetary deficit is contributing to a rise in total public sector debt; if the deficit is not scaled down on a steady basis, public debt could become worrisome.
- Education and labor skills:
  - Despite a good overall educational system, there is a need to facilitate access for all students to secondary schools.
  - Need to enhance the quality of education, including vocational training, to better prepare students for the labor force.
- Sectoral adjustment:
  - The textile and the sugar sector must confront the erosion of trade preference and therefore must restructure in order to survive.

### Outlook and adaptability
- Social and institutional strengths:
  - Cohesion of the social fabric, quality of institutions, level of human capital, and quality of physical infrastructure suggest the country should be able to continue to adapt its economic structure to ensure sustainable growth.

*Source: Mauritius: Challenges of Sustained Growth, Emilio Sacerdoti, Gamal El‑Masry, Padamja Khandelwal, and Yudong Yao, International Monetary Fund (2005).*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-publications/external/pubs/nft/2005/mcsg/_mcsg.pdf_