Net
foreign assets of the banking system increased by Rs418 million or by 1.4 per
cent, from Rs29,705 million at the end of February 2001 to Rs30,123 million at
the end of March 2001. Net foreign assets of Bank of Mauritius went up by Rs188
million or by 0.9 per cent, from Rs21,259 million to Rs21,447 million. Net
foreign assets of commercial banks rose by Rs230 million or by 2.7 per cent,
from Rs8,446 million to Rs8,676 million.
Domestic
credit edged up by Rs82 million or by 0.1 per cent, from Rs89,501 million at
the end of February 2001 to Rs89,583 million at the end of March 2001.
Net
credit to Government increased by Rs362 million or by 2.2 per cent, from
Rs16,797 million at the end of February 2001 to Rs17,159 million at the end of
March 2001. Net credit to Government from Bank of Mauritius dropped by Rs444
million or by 22.8 per cent, from Rs1,945 million to Rs1,501 million. Net
credit to Government from commercial banks rose by Rs806 million or by 5.4 per
cent, from Rs14,852 million to Rs15,658 million.
Credit to
the private sector from commercial banks fell by Rs266 million or by 0.4 per
cent, from Rs72,090 million at the end of February 2001 to Rs71,824 million at
the end of March 2001. Additional credit was granted to "Financial
Institutions" (Rs223 million) and "Personal & Professional"
(Rs175 million). Credit to the
"Manufacturing" sector dropped by Rs 598 million.
Money
supply M2 went up by Rs536 million or 0.6 per cent, from Rs95,907 million at
the end of February 2001 to Rs96,443 million at the end of March 2001. Narrow
money supply M1, one of the components of M2, increased by Rs695 million or by
6.0 per cent, from Rs11,582 million to Rs12,277 million. Quasi-money, the other
component of M2, fell by Rs159 million or by 0.2 per cent, from Rs84,325
million to Rs84,166 million.
The level
of reserve money went up by Rs35 million or by 0.3 per cent, from Rs10,684
million at the end of February 2001 to Rs10,719 million at the end of March
2001.
Taking into consideration
liquidity conditions in the market, the Bank carried out four reverse repo and
two repo transactions with commercial banks in April 2001 for periods varying
from 1 to 2 days. The highest yield for the reverse repo transactions was 6.00
per cent. The lowest yield for the repo transactions was 8.35 per cent.
Mauritius
Automated Clearing and Settlement System(MACSS)
The number of transactions routed through the Mauritius Automated Clearing and Settlement System (MACSS) in April 2001 was 2,210, involving a total amount of Rs28,209 million, compared to 1,817 transactions for a total amount of Rs29,985 million in March 2001. The average number of transactions routed daily through the MACSS increased to 105 in April 2001 from 91 in March 2001. However, the average daily value of transactions fell to Rs1,343 million from Rs1,499 million in March 2001.
Between
end-June 2000 and end-March 2001, the number of Automated Teller Machines
(ATMs) in operation in Mauritius increased by 10, from 221 to 231, and the
number of cardholders (that is to say the number of cards in circulation) went
up by 58,931 from 610,849 to 669,780.
The number of transactions involving the use of credit cards, debit
cards, ATMs and Merchant Points of Sale increased from 1.416 million in June
2000 to 1.656 million in March 2001.
The value of such transactions increased from Rs1,998 million to
Rs2,562 million over that period.
Outstanding advances on credit cards rose from Rs536 million to Rs599
million during the same period.
On
the international foreign exchange market, during April 2001, on an average
basis, the US dollar appreciated against all major currencies. On 18 April 2001, in a surprise move
reflecting its evident concern over the US economic outlook, the Federal
Reserve, for the second time this year between its regular scheduled meetings,
cut the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.5 per cent, the lowest level
in 6-1/2 years. In its accompanying
statement, the Federal Reserve said that the risks to the economy remained
tilted toward further weakness, implying further rate cuts if needed.
The
euro, which started April 2001 at an intra-month low of US$0.8763, managed to
rise above the 90 dollar cents level, against the backdrop of market
uncertainty over the US economic outlook.
However, following the ECB’s surprise decision on 11 April 2001 to leave
interest rates unchanged at 4.75 per cent, the single currency came under
downward pressure. This move raised market concerns that the ECB, by remaining
the only major central bank not to cut interest rates in the face of global
slowdown, was taking risks with the euro zone growth. However, after the rate reduction in the US, the euro traded
higher, benefiting from the quarter point premium the euro offered over the US
dollar. On 26 April 2001, the ECB, at
its governing council meeting, again left interest rates unchanged, retaining
its ‘wait-and-see’ stance. The euro,
deriving support for the first time from the no rate change decision, surged to
trade above US$0.90 level. However, in
the wake of stronger-than-expected US first quarter GDP data, the single
currency again weakened against the dollar to close the month at around
US$0.8914.
The Pound sterling, driven mainly by the euro/dollar downward movement, lost ground against the US dollar. The Bank of England, at its monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 5 April 2001, cut its key repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.5 per cent. In its statement, the BOE kept expectations of more rate cuts alive, noting the downside risks to UK economic activity and adding that sterling’s general strength was having a dampening effect on inflation.
The
Japanese yen lost ground against the US dollar amid further signs that the
Japanese economy was weakening rapidly.
Direct
sales of foreign currencies by the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate (MSS) to the
banking sector during April 2001 amounted to an equivalent of US$13.9
million. There was no intervention by
the Bank of Mauritius on the interbank foreign exchange market during April
2001.
Reflecting
international trends and local market conditions, the rupee, on average,
depreciated between March 2001 and April 2001 against the US dollar by 0.6 per
cent. It, however, appreciated against
the Pound sterling, Japanese yen and euro by 0.2 per cent, 1.7 per cent and 1.4
per cent, respectively. During April
2001, the rupee weakened against the US dollar to trade at an average rate of
Rs28.481 compared with an average rate of Rs28.319 in March 2001. The rupee moved up against the Pound
sterling to trade at an average rate of Rs40.889 in April 2001 as against an
average rate of Rs40.950 in March 2001.
The rupee firmed up against the Japanese yen to trade at an average rate
of Rs23.076 per 100 Yen in April 2001 from an average rate of Rs23.465 per 100
Yen in March 2001 and strengthened vis-à-vis the euro, trading at an average
rate of Rs25.448 in April 2001 compared with an average rate of Rs25.795 in
March 2001.
On
an average basis, between January 1999 and April 2001, the Indonesian rupiah,
Thailand baht, Mauritian rupee, Korean won, Singapore dollar, Taiwan dollar and
Hong Kong dollar appreciated against the euro by 0.9 per cent, 4.4 per cent,
13.9 per cent, 14.7 per cent, 20.3 per cent, 27.0 per cent, and 28.8 per cent,
respectively. The Philippine peso and
the South African rand, however, depreciated vis-à-vis the euro by 0.9 per cent
and 3.2 per cent respectively.
The
foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Mauritius increased by Rs232 million,
from Rs21,447 million at the end of March 2001 to Rs21,679
million at the end of April 2001.
The
net international reserves of the country, made up of the net foreign assets of
the banking system, the foreign assets of the Government and the country’s
Reserve Position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), increased by Rs363
million, from Rs30,278 million at the end of February 2001 to Rs30,641 million
at the end of March 2001. The end-March
2001 level of net international reserves of the country represented 29.1 weeks
of imports, up from 28.8 weeks at the end of February 2001.