Ministry of Finance (Mauritius)

Ministry of Finance

Ministère des Finances
Agency overview
Formed	1968
Jurisdiction	Government of Mauritius
Headquarters	Port Louis, Mauritius
Ministers responsible	Navin Ramgoolam, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dhaneshwar Damry, Junior Minister
Agency executive	Bibi Fatwma Abdool Raman Ahmed, Permanent Secretary
Website	http://mof.govmu.org

The Ministry of Finance of Mauritius is a ministerial department found in the Cabinet of the government of the republic. It is considered as the most executive and important ministry in the cabinet after the Prime Minister's Office. The minister of finance is the most desirable position in the cabinet of the country except of the prime minister. Most of the time being the Deputy Prime Minister or any other senior member of the cabinet. It was created along with the cabinet on 7 July 1968, and since then it has been in the cabinet.

There are other departments falling under the aegis of the office such as economic development or empowerment. The department is not to be confused with the minister of economic planning as the minister of finance is the sole person in charge of the yearly budget for governmental and parliamentary works. The incumbent minister is Navin Ramgoolam who is also the Prime Minister, took office as from 22 November 2024.

Cabinet importance

The ministry of finance in the country is a very important department. It controls all the economic activities of the country as well as determines major price index of all the staples and all other commodities subsidies and taxes. It also determines the price of petrol and gas.

The Central Bank of Mauritius falls under the department and is accountable to the minister. Often considered as the post of the most eligible future prime minister, the minister of finance plays a rather important role in a government as it may decide if the economics policies brought forward by the political party in power are good or rather futile. This may result in a change in people's vote which may oust a government to a new party for a better economic management.

History

Many Finance ministers have shaped the economy and brought about significant economic changes and benefits to the country working under the lead and guidance of their prime ministers. Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo was one of these Finance ministers from 1983 to 1991 in the cabinet of Anerood Jugnauth where he introduced ideas and policies developed by Jugnauth. ^[1]

In some other cases like in 2000 to 2003, then finance minister Paul Bérenger who was also deputy prime minister, brought some of his own economic ideas and development which resulted in a constructive economic sector known as the BPO. Berenger became prime minister in 2003 and appointed Pravind Jugnauth as the head of finance and his deputy. Pravind Jugnauth also held the office with his own ideas and initiatives without the need to constantly seek the lead of Bérenger. This led to conflict between them and the eventual dissolution of their coalition after they lost the 2005 general election to Navin Ramgoolam.

In 2005 when Navin Ramgoolam came to power, he formed a new cabinet and appointed Rama Sithanen as namesake minister. Sithanen introduced a series of economic policies and implementations such as free public transport to students and senior citizen and also the removal of Subsidies on O level and A level examinations in High School.

In 2010, after retaining power for the second successive mandate Navin Ramgoolam formed a new government in alliance with the Militant Socialist Movement. The leader of the MSM, Pravind Jugnauth was re-appointed as Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. He also implemented his own policies and economic changes as per his party's program within the coalition. This led to tension, compounded by the Medpoint scandal that led to the split of their alliance.

In December 2014, Ramgoolam lost the general election. Anerood Jugnauth, who defeated him, formed a coalition government and brought back Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo in the hope of creating a Second Economic Miracle. ^[2]

Salary

The salary of the minister of finance is the same as a cabinet member unless, the office holder is also appointed as deputy prime minister or vice prime minister. The salary is as follows

Office	Salary Yearly
Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Finance	Rs 1,800,000 US $60,000
Vice Prime Minister Minister of Finance	Rs 1,740,000 US $58, 000
Cabinet Minister	Rs 1,740,000 US $58, 000

List of finance ministers

Portrait		Name	Term of office			Portfolio name	Party	Prime minister	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
		Seewoosagur Ramgoolam	26 September 1961	15 August 1967	5 years, 323 days	Finance	PTr	S. Ramgoolam	[3]
		Guy Forget	15 August 1967	12 March 1968	210 days		PTr		[3]
		Veerasamy Ringadoo	12 March 1968	15 June 1982	14 years, 95 days		PTr		[3]
		Paul Bérenger	15 June 1982	22 March 1983	280 days		MMM	A. Jugnauth	[4]
		Anerood Jugnauth	28 March 1983	30 March 1983	2 days		MMM		[5]
							MSM
		Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo	30 March 1983	18 August 1990	7 years, 141 days		MSM		[6]
		Sir Anerood Jugnauth	18 August 1990	15 September 1991	1 year, 28 days		MSM		[7] [8]
		Rama Sithanen	15 September 1991	27 December 1995	4 years, 103 days		MSM		[9]
		Rundheersing Bheenick	30 December 1995	6 August 1996	220 days		PTr	N. Ramgoolam	[10]
		Vasant Bunwaree	27 November 1996	17 September 2000	3 years, 295 days		PTr		[9]
		Paul Bérenger	17 September 2000	30 September 2003	3 years, 13 days		MMM	A. Jugnauth	[11]
		Pravind Jugnauth	30 September 2003	23 December 2003	1 year, 278 days		MSM	Bérenger	[12] [13]
			23 December 2003	5 July 2005		Finance and Economic Development
		Rama Sithanen	7 July 2005	13 September 2008	4 years, 308 days		PTr	N. Ramgoolam	[9]
			13 September 2008	11 May 2010		Finance and Economic Empowerment
		Pravind Jugnauth	11 May 2010	26 July 2011	1 year, 76 days	Finance and Economic Development	MSM		[13]
		Vasant Bunwaree Acting	26 July 2011	7 August 2011	12 days		PTr		[14]
		Xavier-Luc Duval	7 August 2011	6 June 2014	2 years, 315 days		PMSD		[13]
		Navin Ramgoolam	6 June 2014	13 December 2014	190 days		PTr		[13]
		Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo	15 December 2014	14 March 2016	1 year, 90 days		MSM	A. Jugnauth	[15]
		Sir Anerood Jugnauth	14 March 2016	24 May 2016	71 days		MSM		[15]
		Pravind Jugnauth	25 May 2016	12 November 2019	3 years, 171 days		MSM		[16]
								P. Jugnauth
		Renganaden Padayachy	12 November 2019	12 November 2024	5 years	Finance, Economic Planning and Development	MSM		[17]
		Navin Ramgoolam	22 November 2024	Incumbent	280 days	Finance	PTr	N. Ramgoolam	[18]

See also

• List of company registers

References

1. Seblin, Michaella. "Nous voulons diriger le pays". 5Plus. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
2. Servansingh, Rajiv (23 January 2015). "A propos the Second Economic Miracle". Mauritius Times. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
3. Guide to Government Ministers: The British Empire and Successor States 1900-1972
4. "Il y a 35 ans, le 5 mars 1983: Bérenger Premier ministre suppléant pour la première fois". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express . Retrieved 15 February 2025.
5. Paxton, J., ed. (1983). The Statesman's Year-Book 1983-84. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. xxix.
6. "Mauritian government collapses after vote on becoming republic". upi.com. UPI. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
7. "Ministère des Finances: le maigre bilan de Lutchmeenaraidoo". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express . Retrieved 15 February 2025.
8. Hunter, B., ed. (1991). The Statesman's Year-Book 1991-92. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 861.
9. "Elected members of Legislative Election 2005". mauritiusassembly.govmu.org. Mauritius National Assembly. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
10. Hunter, B., ed. (1996). The Statesman's Year-Book 1996-97. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 887–888.
11. "New government sworn in". thenewhumanitarian.org. The New Humanitarian. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
12. "Dans la presse du… 1er Octobre 2003: Paul Bérenger devient Premier ministre". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express . Retrieved 16 February 2025.
13. "Elected members of Legislative Election 2010". mauritiusassembly.govmu.org. Mauritius National Assembly. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
14. "Cinq Travaillistes et Xavier Duval se partagent les ministères laissés libres par le MSM". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
15. "Elected members of Legislative Election 2014". mauritiusassembly.govmu.org. Mauritius National Assembly. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
16. "Archived copy". mof.govmu.org. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
17. "Archived copy". mof.govmu.org:80. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
18. "24 ministres + 10 «junior ministers»". lexpress.mu (in French). L'Express . Retrieved 15 February 2025.