BLBG:Mauritian Rupee Falls to One-Week Low Against Euro on Concern of EU Debt
Mauritius’s rupee depreciated to a one-week low against the euro, the currency of its main trading partner, on concern slowing growth may worsen the euro region’s debt crisis.
The currency weakened as much as 1 percent to 40.4417 per euro and traded at 40.0508 by 1:08 p.m. in Port Louis, the capital. Versus the dollar, the rupee slipped 0.4 percent to 28.1, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero returned to Madrid to discuss the worsening fiscal crisis with ministers, less than a day after departing for a vacation in the south of the country. Political leaders are responding to the latest stage of the European debt crisis that has pushed Spanish and Italian 10-year borrowing costs above 6 percent, stoking concern they could become the next victims of Europe’s debt crisis.
“European leaders are unable to dissipate the doubts markets have about the Italian and Spanish fiscal position,” analysts at Mauritius Commercial Bank, the country’s largest lender by market value, wrote in a note to clients. “With all these events occurring amidst a somber economic outlook, we expect the bearish feeling to stay.”
Europe is the Indian Ocean island nation’s main source of tourists, with a share of 64 percent of arrivals for the January to June period, according to the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Agency data. The continent bought 65 percent of Mauritian exports during the quarter through March, the Central Statistics Office said on May 31, led by the United Kingdom, France and Spain.
Buying prices for the dollar ranged from 27.2706 rupees and 27.4357 rupees, with the selling price declining to 28.7327 from 28.765 rupees per dollar, according to indicative rates published today on the Bank of Mauritius’s website.
Mauritian stocks snapped two days of declines, with the 38- member SEMDEX gauge advancing 0.4 percent to 2,031.48, led by Mauritius Commercial Bank.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kamlesh Bhuckory in Port Louis via Johannesburg at 1933 or gbell16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net
