Mauritius Rupee plummets to all-time low of 45 against US dollar

The rupee was set to close at its lifetime low of 45 (provisional) against the US Dollar on March 25 amid poor tourism arrivals and intensifying geopolitical risks due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Forex traders have heightened worries about domestic inflation, wider trade deficits and sustained foreign fund outflows.

On the international foreign exchange market, the rupee was trading between 44.76 against the American currency but lost ground and settled at Rs45/USD.

At the Bank of Mauritius, the dollar was at Rs44.75 – already an all-time record.

On mArch 9, the Governor of the Bank of Mauritius Harvesh Seegolam had told the 62nd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee that the opening of the borders to international travel and the revival of the tourism sector “have helped improve conditions in the FX market.”

The BoM has conducted four FX interventions since the beginning of the year totalling USD45million to contain volatility in the exchange rate and to ensure adequate supply of FX to the market.

During the last intervention on March 7, it sold USD15million at Rs43.65/USD.

On Thursday, l’Express reported that FX from tourism fell from Rs63billion in 2019 to Rs15billion in 2021. 

Officially, the gross official FX reserves of the country stood at around

USD7.8 billion as at end-February 2022, representing 20 months of imports.