(Bloomberg) -- Mauritius’s new premier ordered an audit of Finance Ministry data that he said shows the economy is doing better than it actually is.
A team has begun a review of data on the state of the economy and the Indian Ocean island nation’s public finances, Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam said at a public rally in the capital, Port Louis, on Sunday. He secured a fourth term in the post last week after the coalition he leads won Nov. 10 elections by a landslide.
“All the numbers from the finance minister are wrong,” he said. “Soon, you will know. They manipulated the data to make you believe that life is rosy.”
Public sector debt rose 3.5% to 565.2 billion rupees ($12.1 billion) in the three months through September from the previous quarter, while debt as a ratio of gross domestic product increased to 77.9% from 77.6%, the Treasury said last month.
In the week leading up to the election, former Finance Minister Renganaden Padayachy said economic growth will average more than 6% annually over the next five years. He declined to comment when contacted by phone on Monday.
“Those who did wrong will be held to account,” Ramgoolam said.
The rupee traded 1.5% stronger on Monday at 46.50 per US dollar, ending a five-day losing streak, after the central bank injected $25 million into the domestic market to support the currency.
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