(Bloomberg) -- Mauritius expects to receive billions of rupees from the UK following an agreement under which Britain ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to the Indian Ocean island nation.
“England has agreed to pay us compensation — it’s many billions of rupees,” Land Transport and Light Rail Minister Alan Ganoo was quoted as saying in the Port Louis-based Le Defi Quotidien newspaper on Tuesday. “With that compensation, Mauritius island will become one of the biggest” developing countries, he said.
The UK government didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The UK struck a deal earlier this month allowing it to keep control of a strategically important UK-US military base in Chagos, while ceding sovereignty over the archipelago to Mauritius. Ganoo’s announcement at a political rally on Monday is the first public disclosure on what financial compensation Mauritius will receive under the agreement.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy declined to be drawn when asked in the House of Commons last week how much money the UK would pay.
“To enable this partnership, the UK will provide a package of financial support to Mauritius,” the two nations said in a joint statement on Oct. 3. “This will include an indexed annual payment for the duration of the agreement and the establishment of a transformational infrastructure partnership.”
Mauritius, a nation of about 1.26 million people with a $14.4 billion economy, is a net importer of food and fuel. The country is preparing to hold parliamentary elections next month.
--With assistance from Ellen Milligan and Alex Morales.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.