Economic Governance and Management Chapter 4 small and medium enterprise (SME) stakeholders. The real meaning of democratisation is to move from an economy controlled by a few Franco-Mauritian families to one in which economic power is shared with other segments of society, particularly those that control the political arena. 456. iii. Recommendations 457. The APR Panel recommends that the government: • • • • • • 186 The Republic of Mauritius was a settlement colony. Labour was brought from Africa and Asia to work in white settlers’ plantations and other businesses. The country has been functioning economically as a European economic enclave, located in Africa, with imported workers. The Mauritian economy has since evolved as part of the European economy. This partly explains the good relations between the EU and Mauritius and the sense that the country has closer links with Europe and Asia than with Africa. However, it is recognised that Mauritius is located geographically in Africa and that this has political implications for the country. Macroeconomic policies are also functions of this historical background in terms of traditional tax policies, support to export-oriented business, and so on. Develops a comprehensive and consensual vision of the Mauritius of tomorrow that the country is building with the assistance of its development partners. [Government and development planners] Operationalises the vision with all stakeholders to ensure high, sustained and inclusive economic growth. [Government, private sector and civil society organisations] Addresses the sustainability of a business-led development model and the option of a welfare state in an open and external market-oriented economy. [Government, private sector and civil society organisations] Redirects public investment policy to stimulate the emergence of multipolar growth centres in order to reduce regional disparities and to build an integrated national economy. [Government and decentralised entities] Develops instruments and models for macroeconomic forecasting, regularly updates parameters and basic coefficients, and makes the models more dynamic. [Government] Strengthens and widens the bases of the national economic environment to ensure greater solidity and resistance to unforeseeable external shocks. [Government and private sector] Chapter 4 Objective 2: Economic Governance and Management Implement sound, transparent and predictable economic policies i. Summary of the CSAR 458. The CSAR analyses economic policies based on: (i) descriptions of the processes of development, implementation and monitoring; (ii) the predictability of economic policies; and (iii) the level of participation and consultation in implementing policies. The CSAR does not examine the economic policies themselves. It does not scrutinise their existence, coherence or quality in relation to the ambitions of the government and aspirations of the people. It does not study the institutions that the government established and how it organised them. All of these are important if the economic policies are to be implemented efficiently and transparently. 459. With regard to promoting good governance in developing, implementing and monitoring economic policies, the CSAR feels that the efficiency and culture of good governance of public administration depends on modernising the system of public financial management. It limits its analysis to the reforms initiated in 2006. These were the introduction of the Efficient Management System (EMS) and the results-based Programme-Budget Approach (PBA). The report describes the main characteristics of these approaches, their performance criteria and the indicators that guide monitoring. 460. The CSAR also describes the reforms introduced in respect of fiscal administration. They include the measures taken in 2006 to simplify and consolidate the income tax system. These eased the administrative procedures for the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA), reduced taxation rates, introduced a property tax (the NRPT of 2007) and introduced a single tax on corporate incomes in July 2009. The objective of these reforms was to boost economic activities and to promote entrepreneurship. 461. The CSAR finally describes the measures adopted to strengthen the legal and institutional framework of public financial management. They include: (i) a review of the executive order on the Audit of Finances and the Financial Management Manual; (ii) the adoption, in 2006, of a new law on public procurement and the establishment of related operational structures; and (iii) the mechanisms established to facilitate communicating demands from the public to the authorities on the management and quality of public services. 187