 The financial sector has been growing forward |
Over the past few years, the whole of the financial sector has been
growing forward. The statisticsshows that over the past four years, the contribution of financial
institutions to the economy averaged an annual growth rate of 8%, thus outpacing economic
growth which averaged 5.6%. Offshore entities on register have exceeded 7000, the leasing
market has grown by a compounded rate of 22% per annum over a period of five years - that
is from 1991 to 1996 - and in 1997 the financial sector registered a growth rate of 27%.
The insurance sector managed funds exceeding Rs 8.5 billion, the National Pensions Fund
(NPF) has a portfolio of more than Rs 8 billion and the number of companies with Freeportlicences stood at over 550. For the year ended on 30th June 1998, the offshore sector was
calculated to be 2.5% of GDP representing 22% of the Financial Services Sector GDP»
according to the annual report of the Mauritius
Offshore Business Activities Authority(MOBAA).
| The financial sector is further reinforcing the country’s
diversified economic structure. In mid-1998 the financial sector contributed 11.4% to GDP
which was only 1.9% in 1968.
Concerning the business opportunities in the offshore, Mr D. Bikoo, director of the MOBAA said
« There are two areas we are developing over the last couple of months, they are Captive
Insurance Business and Aircraft Financing Business. Mauritius is trying to become the
captive domicile of the Indian Ocean and already quite important Captive Insurance
Managers have come here and have set a Captive Management Company here.»
However there is still room for improvement in the financial sector to
meet new challenges. The main aim is to provide the country with a reliable trade centre
and eventually turn into a financial hub. In fact Mauritius is a bridge between Africa and
Asia. Through the offshore sector Mauritius is one of the main investors in India and
several trade agreements exist with China and other countries where Mauritius has already
entered into double taxation agreements. |
