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Mauritius no longer a ‘high-income’ country
Mauritius has been reclassified as a middle-income country, only a year after being hyped by the World Bank as a high-income country.
L’Express reported that the reclassification was to be expected and economists were already questioning the sustainability of the high-income ranking since last year.
It added that the reclassification is the result of the shock suffered by Mauritius last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It cited the World Bank as indicating that the gross national income (GNI) per capita for 2020 fell to USD 10,230, a decrease of 20.6% from that of 2019 (USD 12,740) – the reason being that a contraction of GDP and net foreign income coupled with the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar.
The high income threshold, adjusted annually, is now USD 12,695.