The Finance Minister believes that in the context of this unprecedented crisis, this increase in official reserves will enable the country to deal with the economic shock of Covid-19 with more serenity.

He also indicated that at the end of March 2020, the local commercial banks held foreign currency assets of some Rs 780 billion.

As for net foreign currency assets of commercial banks, for that same period, they stood at Rs 400 billion, or 10 billion USD, he stated.

Commenting the inclusion of Mauritius in the list of High Risk Third Countries issued by the European Commission, the Finance Minister reiterated Government's view that the list is not yet final and needs to be submitted to the European Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers for approval,

As for the balance of payments estimates, he indicated that according to preliminary forecasts by the Bank of Mauritius, the current account deficit will be between 11% and 15% of GDP.

Dr Padayachy stressed that in the current context, the COVID-19 (Miscellaneous Provisions) Billwill introduce the possibility for the Board of Directors of the Bank of Mauritius to invest, at its discretion and in full independence, in the Mauritian economy.