Mauritius’s rupee depreciated to an almost six-week low against the euro, the currency of its main trading partner. The currency retreated as much as 1.5 percent to 40.4899, its weakest intraday level since Sept. 6, and traded 1 percent down at 40.2905 by 2:06 p.m. in Port Louis, the capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Versus the dollar, the rupee dropped 0.6 percent to 29.12. Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island nation of 1.3 million people, is a net importer of food and fuels. Europe is the nation’s main source of tourist arrivals and largest buyer of manufactured goods, data from Statistics Mauritius show. The euro represents 41 percent of total foreign-currency earnings, the Bank of Mauritius said, while the dollar accounts for 67 percent of import bills. Buying prices for the dollar ranged from 27.9688 rupees to 28.1374 and the selling price dropped to 29.474 compared with 29.5407 on Oct. 14, according to exchange rates published today on the Bank of Mauritius website. 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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