|
Mauritius Trade and Balance of Payments
The success of the EPZs has meant that sugar, the
traditional
leader in exports, has been replaced by manufactured
goods.
Although the level of sugar exports has remained
relatively flat
(rising to MauR5.3 billion in 1992 from MauR4.3 billion in
1987),
EPZ exports have risen from MauR6.6 billion in 1987 to
MauR13.5
billion in 1992. Most exports went to Britain (35 percent
in
1991), followed by France (19 percent), the United States
(11
percent), and Germany (11 percent).
Manufactured goods accounted for 34 percent of imports
in
1991, followed by machinery and transportation equipment
(25
percent), food (11 percent), and fuels (8 percent). In the
same
year, France was the main supplier of imported goods (13
percent), followed by South Africa (12 percent), Britain
(7
percent), and Japan (7 percent). Other sources of imports
are
Germany, India, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
The country's geographic isolation, reliance on
imported
fuel, food, and manufactured goods, and its limited export
base
have combined to create persistent visible balance of
trade
deficits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Imports
outpaced
exports by MauR1.1 billion in 1987, and the trade deficit
grew to
an estimated MauR5.8 billion in 1992.
Data as of August 1994
|
