1. BRP is unsustainable because it represents 25% of the budget (2026). Whilst it's true that the BRP has been used as an electoral weapon in at least three general elections one must not forget that the economy is about 2.5X smaller than what the 15% flat tax and other unsustainable tax structures since 2006 were supposed to generate. So if we divide by 2.5 we get roughly a very manageable 10% which going forward will even decrease with an average management of the economy.
2. Our free public health system is a very heavy burden for the state so that we'll need to find solutions in the future (2026). Our public health system has for all intents and purposes crashed. Rs18.5 billion was set aside for it in the 2025/26 budget which represents only 2.3% of GDP. Seychelles budget 5% of GDP for the same item. Do the math. Don't forget that our economy is 2.5X smaller than what Sithanen had forecasted.
3. BRP targeting is almost inevitable otherwise there will come a time when there will be no money to pay any BRP to anyone (2026). Navin Ramgoolam has used
the same argument which we've debunked again recently in
Preokipasion Sitwayin.
4. Is this why I have joined politics and how will I look pensioners in their eyes (2026)? How did it go last year when people who were going to turn 60 did not get their BRP? You should look in their eeys and explain to them why you think a crashing public health system is a very heavy burden.
5. It's a budget that sets the stage for growth (2026). Nope. We're going to be stuck in what for Mauritius are very low growth rates because abusive IPP contracts are likely not to have been renewed at reasonable terms because otherwise government would have used this information as genuine selling points.
6. There are two ways of increasing the revenues of the state. One is cut expenses like pensions, the other is to increase revenues through growth (2026). You likely meant reducing the deficit and eventually reducing the debt/GDP ratio. But there are more ways of reducing the deficit including introducing a wealth tax, reducing wastage, merging parastatals and selling participation in state assets. While we certainly don't want government to sell ownership in government assets a wealth tax is overdue given the mess the unsustainable tax structure for the past twenty years has put Mauritius into.
7. We used to produce 700,000 tons of sugar a long time ago but now we produce 200,000 to 225,000 tons. We should be able increase our sugar production (2026). Sugar weighs only about 0.5% of our economy which means that it's been dead for a long time. No amount of money will revive it. It did get a gift of Rs 5 billion in 2007. This was pure wastage.
8. The best way to help a poor person is to give him a good job. This will give him dignity (2026). And what exactly does stealing the BRP and throwing thousands into poverty do? Or concreting agricultural lands that puts him out of the real estate market for good?
9. Last year we were at the edge of a cliff. We took some difficult decisions. Today we can breathe a little better (2026). As we've shown several times there were plenty of things that government could have done to improve public finances instead of stealing the BRP of our old folks.
10. Two of the areas where lack of planning and investment has been severe over the past 10 years have been in water and electricity (2026). Not 10 years but 20. Tell us how many kms of leaking pipes have been changed each year since 2005 and how much did the CEB invest in extra power generation. You're also awfully quiet on the abusive IPP contracts that have been killing our economy and international competitiveness for more than two decades.
No comments:
Post a Comment