Table 25 : Net International Reserves

Bank of

Commercial

Others*

Net

Import

Mauritius

Banks Net

International

Coverage

Foreign

Foreign

Reserves

(No. of

Assets

Assets

weeks)#

(Rs Million)

Jul-98

14,131

4,774

231

19,136

20.0

Aug-98

14,038

4,638

232

18,909

19.7

Sep-98

14,121

5,245

230

19,596

20.5

Oct-98

12,780

4,801

236

17,817

18.6

Nov-98

12,658

5,042

240

17,940

18.7

Dec-98

13,867

5,778

250

19,895

20.8

Jan-99

15,188

6,004

252

21,444

22.4

Feb-99

15,368

5,816

493

21,677

22.6

*: Includes Foreign Assets of the Government and the country's Reserve Position in the IMF.

#: Based on the value of the import bill for the calendar year 1998.

Table 26: Transactions on the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market

Weekly

Purchase of

Purchase of

Total Purchases

Opening

Position

US$ against

US$ against

US$

Rupee

Interbank

(Transaction

Rupee

Other Foreign

Equivalent

Equivalent

Min-Max

days only)

Currencies

Ask Rate*

(US$ million)

(US$ million)

(US$ million)

(Rs million)

(Rs/US$)

March 1999

Week I

0.4

0.2

0.6

15.7

24.9650 - 25.0350

Week II

-

0.1

0.1

2.3

24.9825 - 25.0100

Week III

1.1

1.5

2.5

63.7

24.9900 - 25.0275

Week IV

0.3

2.8

3.1

77.7

25.0225 - 25.0425

Week V

0.4

0.2

0.6

15.5

25.0800 - 25.1000

Jul-98

0.3

2.5

3.4

84.8

24.2400 - 24.3800

Aug-98

0.1

2.6

3.1

73.3

24.3250 - 24.5300

Sep-98

0.4

2.8

3.6

88.9

24.3200 - 24.5000

Oct-98

0.2

3.4

4.1

100.1

24.4225 - 24.8000

Nov-98

1.0

6.4

7.9

192.5

24.7400 - 24.8500

Dec-98

7.1

5.4

12.8

315.9

24.6475 - 24.7800

Jan-99

2.2

4.0

6.2

154.6

24.6150 - 24.8650

Feb-99

6.7

2.6

9.9

247.9

24.8625 - 24.9650

Mar-99

2.2

4.8

6.9

174.9

24.9650 - 25.0350

*: With effect from 1-Oct-98, the Rs/US$ ask rate is based on the average of daily Rs/US$ ask rates of four major commercial banks.