National Assembly: PRB Report to the Cabinet on Friday

National Assembly: The PRB report will be presented to the Cabinet this Friday.

Patrick Hilbert
Tue, 09/12/2025 - 11:31

Public salaries, annual salary compensation, and minimum wage: budgetary balance under scrutiny. The Cabinet will review these three crucial topics related to the state's finances and the purchasing power of Mauritians.

The Pay Research Bureau (PRB) report, annual salary compensation, and the national minimum wage will be on the agenda for the Cabinet meeting scheduled for this Friday. On Monday afternoon, a lengthy meeting lasting nearly two hours took place on this subject, attended by Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam and Deputy Prime Minister Paul Bérenger. Also present were the Minister of Labour, Reza Uteem, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Dhaneshwar Damry, the Financial Secretary, and Gilbert Gnany, the chief economic advisor to the Prime Minister's office. The three topics were discussed together as they are "intrinsically linked, as each impacts the other," confided a source close to the matter.

According to our information, the PRB report, which revises salary structures and service conditions in the public sector and semi-public organizations every five years, is nearly finalized. Only a few minor adjustments remain before its expected publication this month and its implementation set for January 1st.

This document is particularly anticipated by the approximately 80,000 civil servants and semi-public employees. Several scenarios were discussed during the meeting on Monday, including the possibility of staggered payments for the recommended increases.

In Parliament last Tuesday, Navin Ramgoolam stated that "it is in a particularly difficult context that we presented a budget that obviously required drastic measures to restore public finances. It is in this context that the PRB report is being prepared."

The budgetary challenge is indeed significant. The full implementation of the report could cost the state over eight billion rupees, in a context where the country has yet to emerge from the economic crisis. At the Prime Minister's office, there is deep concern regarding the public debt ratio, which remains above 90% of GDP. A further deterioration of this ratio could risk a downgrade of Mauritius's sovereign rating by Moody's agency.

Since last January, the Republic's rating has been set at Baa3 with a negative outlook. This level still corresponds to the "investment grade" category but already signals significant risks: persistent fiscal challenges, high debt, and contingent liabilities, despite a sustained economic recovery and comfortable foreign exchange reserves. A downgrade to speculative status would have severe consequences: loss of investor confidence, increased borrowing costs on international markets, and heightened difficulties in financing the budget deficit.