Bank of Mauritius’ reserves drop from Rs3Bn to a shocking Rs900 million

The annual report of the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) on June 30, 2022 has reportedly confirmed the shocking drop in its reserves, amounting to Rs 900 million compared to Rs 3 billion for the same period in 2021. In 2020, reserves amounted to Rs 43 billion, l’Express has reported.

The newspaper cited financial specialists as explaining the drop to be directly related to the accelerated depreciation of the rupee.

“From January 2023 to the day, the local currency has depreciated by almost 4% against the dollar,” said financial analyst Imrith Ramtohul.

“Following the recovery of the international financial market positively impacted the Total Comprehensive Income, i.e. gains from its foreign investments as well as those earned from the revaluation of its foreign currency reserves. This amounted of Rs 5.1 billion last February,” he added.

BoM’s financial balance sheet indicates that as of June 30, 2022, the total value of its foreign investment amounted to Rs 134 billion.

On the other hand, l’Express reported that from June 2022 to March 2023, the total overall result (Total Comprehensive) was in deficit: Rs 2.7 billion in August, Rs 6.8 billion in September, Rs 11 billion in October, Rs 6.9 billion in November and Rs 5.9 billion in December.

The annual report pointed out that the bank’s liabilities increased from Rs 411 billion in fiscal year 2020-21 to Rs 443 billion in 2021-22, mainly due to the allocation of Special Drawing Rights denominated in USD.

In addition, the BoM used external financing to support foreign exchange demand on the local market.

Source: L’Express