Mauritian authorities play down Moody’s ‘downgrade’ rating

Reacting to the decision of Moody’s to review the sovereign rating of Mauritius from Baa2 Negative to Baa3 Stable, the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) has nonetheless expressed satisfaction that Mauritius has retained its Investment Grade status.

“It remains the only International Financial Centre in Africa with an Investment Grade ranking, and only one of two countries on the continent (Mauritius and Botswana) with an Investment Grade rating,” it said. A similar reaction came from the Ministry of Finance.

“It is important to highlight that Mauritius continues to be an Investment Grade jurisdiction in spite of the successive economic shocks and looming risks to the global economic outlook,” the BoM said.

Both claimed that the stable outlook is testimony to the “resilience of the Mauritian economy going forward and the focus of the authorities to put in place policy measures conducive to macroeconomic and financial stability that drives economic growth”.

They added that the preservation of the Investment Grade status with a stable outlook consolidates the country’s strategy as the International Financial Centre for sustainable investments to Africa and other strategic regions.

The Ministry of Finance said that, in view of the positive outlook for 2022, Moody’s is thus improving the “outlook” of Mauritius, changing it from “negative” to “stable”.