Mauritius’s rupee weakened for a second day against the dollar on concern that Europe’s debt crisis will worsen, curbing demand for riskier emerging- and frontier-market assets. The currency depreciated 0.9 percent to 29.05 per dollar at 2:40 p.m. in Port Louis, the capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Versus the euro, the currency of its main trading partner, the rupee slipped 1.3 percent to 39.7779. Standard & Poor’s yesterday cut Italy’s credit rating to A from A+ as rising borrowing costs would make it difficult to reduce Europe’s second-biggest debt load. Greece will hold a call tonight with its main creditors after “substantive” discussions about securing a sixth installment of aid, the Athens-based finance ministry said. “Sentiment is worsening, mainly driven by persisting European Union woes and the inability of the leaders to solve them,” analysts at Mauritius Commercial Bank, the country’s largest lender by market value, wrote in a e-mailed note to clients today. “Italy’s downgrade yesterday is another warning signal to market participants that if actions are not taken soon, the future of the Euro zone could be in jeopardy.” Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island nation with a population of 1.3 million people, earns 41 percent of its foreign currency in euros, according to Bank of Mauritius data. Europe accounted for 62 percent of tourist arrivals in the first eight months of the year, data from the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority show. Buying prices for the dollar ranged from 27.7879 to 27.955 and the selling price increased to 29.2867 compared with 29.206 yesterday, according to exchange rates published today on the Bank of Mauritius website. Mauritius’s 38-member SEMDEX stock index lost 0.4 percent to 1,891.74 by the 1:30 p.m. close, the lowest lowest since Nov. 12, led by State Bank of Mauritius Ltd., the country’s second- largest lender by market value. 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

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