New Delhi, August 24, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Expanding trade in local currencies beyond the India-Mauritius corridor to wider BRICS cooperation and the African continent could prove a “game-changer” for the economies involved, Mauritius Minister of Financial Services and Economic Planning Jyoti Jeetun has said.
In an exclusive interview with IANS, Jeetun said the issue has gained importance amid growing geopolitical uncertainties and increasing focus on the Global South.
She noted that the Bank of Mauritius and the Reserve Bank of India signed a memorandum of understanding last year to establish a clearing system for Indian rupees and Mauritian rupees. The proposed mechanism would allow the two countries to conduct trade directly in their respective currencies rather than relying on hard currencies.
“Instead of using hard currencies, this would allow us to trade directly in our own local currencies,” Jeetun said, adding that the Bank of Mauritius was working with the RBI to implement the arrangement.
According to the minister, greater use of local currencies could reduce dependence on hard currencies and provide significant benefits to the economies, particularly amid the current global and geopolitical environment.
Jeetun also highlighted India’s economic growth and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 as an inspiration for Mauritius. She pointed to India’s rise from being the world’s 10th or 11th-largest economy to the fourth-largest, with expectations that it will soon become the third-largest.
On bilateral trade, she said commerce between India and Mauritius had increased under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA), although there remained scope for further growth. Mauritius, with a population of around 1.2 million, has a relatively small domestic market.
She said a much larger opportunity existed in an India-Mauritius-Africa economic ecosystem. Mauritius is a member of the African Union as well as SADC and COMESA, giving it potential to serve as a platform for expanding trade between India and Africa.
“We are therefore working strongly to connect India with the African continent and explore how Mauritius can be used as a platform for wider trade between Africa and India,” Jeetun said.
On the recently ratified Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) protocol, she said Mauritius now expected greater certainty, predictability and investor confidence in the bilateral economic relationship.
Jeetun also highlighted developments in energy cooperation. An MoU was signed between India and Mauritius last week during Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s visit to Mauritius. Separately, Indian Oil and Mauritius’ State Trading Corporation, the entity responsible for fuel imports in the country, have signed a sale and purchase agreement.
Jeetun said the arrangements represented more than a conventional trade relationship and provided Mauritius with important energy-security guarantees amid geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over fuel supplies.
She said disruptions to supply chains and rising costs had underscored the importance of the government-to-government arrangement being implemented by Indian Oil, describing it as an important component of the Mauritius-India relationship.
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