Economic Governance and Management Chapter 4 Chapter 4 has taken measures to improve the legal and institutional framework to address corruption, thereby demonstrating its determination to combat corruption. It has introduced structures that enjoy management autonomy to stimulate transparency and curb impunity. They include the ombuds-person (mediator of the republic), the FIU of the National Audit Office (NAO) and ICAC. 395. However, the PEFA Report and an IMF report on the financial sector both identified organisational weaknesses and lack of capacity in monitoring the recommendations contained in their reports. 396. In the area of controlling and regulating public procurement, the CRM noted that the regulatory, technical and financial provisions are aligned with international standards and reflect COMESA guidelines. However, the PEFA Report highlighted the inadequate performance of the public procurement system, which the government pledged to correct. 397. A new law governing public procurement was adopted in July 2007. An autonomous Procurement Policy Office (PPO) and a Central Procurement Board (CPB) were established, as was an Independent Review Committee aimed at strengthening the capacity of the legal and institutional framework. These measures were intended to improve the poor management of public resources and to help ensure that national systems conform to international indicators and standards. common provisions for taxation and related areas; (iv) cooperating with, and coordinating, exchange control policies; (v) harmonising legal and operational frameworks; (vi) cooperation between central banks on payment systems and in modern communication technologies; (vii) cooperating in bank regulation and supervision; (viii) cooperating with nonbanking financial institutions; and (ix) cooperating in financial markets. 400. The CRM realised, at meetings with stakeholders, that economic interests largely dictate Mauritius’s membership of regional economic organisations. The private and industrial sectors, whose main thrust is exporting goods and services, dominate these organisations. Regional integration can only be effective if it helps to create new opportunities to expand the market for Mauritian products. Consequently, the umbrella organisations of the private sector are involved in policy decisions within the framework of regional integration. These organisations are regularly informed about policy. However, these policy decisions are practically unknown to civil society and even less to the wider population, because they are not popularised when adopted. Table 4.2: SADC macroeconomic convergence criteria Inflation Budget rate deficit as a percentage of GDP The COMESA Treaty, the SADC Treaty and related protocols 398. 399. 168 The information given to the CRM and gained during meetings with stakeholders confirmed that Mauritius has subscribed to the COMESA and the SADC treaties. It has also signed and ratified several protocols emanating from them. However, the government feels that these regional groups should be harmonised and even integrated into a single body to avoid duplication and to make regional integration efficient. The CRM notes that Mauritius signed the SADC MoU, on the macroeconomic convergence criteria, on 8 August 2002. The criteria are the inflation rate in each member state, the ratio of budget deficit to gross domestic product (GDP), the public debt to GDP ratio, and the structure and balance of the current account. However, the MoU had not yet been ratified and nonobservance of the convergence criteria is not subject to sanctions. The country also signed the SADC Finance and Investment Protocol on 9 September 2009. It covers: (i) cooperating on investments; (ii) the macroeconomic convergence criteria; (iii) Economic Governance and Management Public debt as a percentage of GDP Current balance as a percentage of GDP Real Rate of growth covering rate reserves (months of imports) Required <10 per standards cent <5 per cent <6 per cent <9 per cent >7 per cent >3 months 2007 8.8 per cent 4.3 per cent 55.8 per cent 5.6 per cent 5.5 per cent 5.2 months 2008 9.7 per cent 3.3 per cent 48.6 per cent 10.4 per cent 5.0 per cent 5.2 months Source: CRM. Good and best practices on fiscal and budget transparency 401. The standards and codes, developed by the IMF and the World Bank within the framework of the FSAP, are accepted internationally. They are divided into three groups: (i) data transparency, in terms of the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) of the IMF and its General Data Dissemination System (GDDS); (ii) budgetary transparency, in 169