Page 8 - May 2017

Effective 2 May 2017, GMTBs were no longer being issued for liquidity management
purposes. As such, the Bank has, thereafter, been issuing its own instruments, notably Bank of
Mauritius (BoM) Bills, for liquidity management purposes. In this context, BoM Bills aggregating a
nominal amount of Rs4.8 billion were issued during May 2017 in the three tenors: 91-Day, 182-
Day, and 364-Day, and the corresponding average weighted yields stood at 2.00 per cent, 2.16 per
cent and 2.15 per cent, respectively.

During May 2017, the Bank conducted open market operations totalling Rs6,377 million to
mop up excess liquidity in the system. In addition to an amount of Rs4.8 billion of BoM Bills
issued for liquidity management, the Bank also conducted mandatory sterilisation of its foreign
exchange intervention for a total amount of Rs1,577 million for a maturity period of one-year, with
deposit rates ranging from 2.24 per cent to 2.45 per cent.

Based on the weighted average dealt selling rate1, the rupee, on average, appreciated against
the US dollar but depreciated against the euro and the Pound sterling in May 2017. The
average rupee exchange rates were Rs34.890/USD, Rs38.687/EUR and Rs45.435/GBP in May 2017
compared to Rs35.342/USD, Rs38.046/EUR and Rs45.018/GBP in April 2017.

The Gross Official International Reserves (GOIR) of Mauritius which comprise the gross
foreign assets of Bank of Mauritius, reserve position in the IMF and foreign assets of
Government, decreased from Rs180.1 billion as at end-April 2017 to Rs179.4 billion as at
end-May 2017. The gross foreign assets of the Bank fell by Rs693 million to Rs178.2 billion over
the same period. Compared to a year ago, GOIR rose by Rs17.7 billion or 10.9 per cent. Based on
the value of imports of goods (f.o.b.) and non-factor services for the year 2016, the level of GOIR
of the country remained unchanged to its end-April 2017 position and represented 9.4 months of
imports as at end-May 2017.

1 The rates are calculated on the basis of transactions of US$20,000 and above, or the equivalent in other foreign
currencies, conducted by banks and foreign exchange dealers and as reported to the Bank.

4