Mauritius Says Island's Trade Deficit Widened 25.7% in First Half of Year

Mauritius’s trade deficit widened by 25.7 percent in the first half of 2010 as imports increased, the Central Statistics Office said.

Exports in the first six months of the year totaled 31.5 billion rupees ($1 billion), an 8.6 percent advance from a year ago, the Port Louis-based agency said in a statement on its website today. Imports rose 17 percent to 62.8 billion rupees from a year ago, resulting in a deficit of 31.3 billion rupees.

A weaker euro and an economic crisis in many of the naiton’s main markets in Europe have hit exports and tourism revenue. The government announced on Aug. 13 a 12 billion-rupee program to help the economy cope with the impact of the rupee’s gains against the euro-zone currency. The rupee weakened 1.3 percent to 39.7542 versus the euro by 1:10 p.m. local time, still almost 9 percent stronger this year.

Europe was the main exports market, accounting for 64 percent of goods, the statistics agency said. The U.K. was the Indian Ocean island nation’s biggest destination for local products, with 6.29 billion rupees worth of exports, a 21 percent decline from a year ago. Apparel and clothing accessories are the country’s biggest exports, accounting for almost 40 percent of goods sold internationally.

Bills for refined petroleum products rose 51 percent to reach 9.87 billion rupees. Mauritius signed a $2 billion agreement to buy fuel from Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd., a unit of India’s biggest energy explorer, on July 1.

The agency forecasts a full-year deficit of 67 billion rupees, with exports seen at 63 billion rupees and imports of 130 billion rupees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kamlesh Bhuckory in Port Louis at kbhuckory@bloomberg.net

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