Economy and Politics in France

France is one of the most powerful countries of the world. The country is a member of the European Union. Today, the Economy and Politics of France play a pivotal role in shaping the fate of the world at large. France Travel Guide gives you a better understanding of the Economy and Politics of France.


France is a strong member of the G8 group, which is a formation of the leading industrialized nations of the world. According to the surveys conducted in the year 2005, the economy of France is the sixth largest in the world. The economy of France is only behind that of countries like United States, Japan, Germany, the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom. On 1st January 1999, France joined the league with 11 other European Union countries to initiate the use of Euro as the national currency. It is seen as one of the historic steps by the country. With the introduction of Euro, the French `Franc' was completely replaced by Euro banknotes and coins.
Today, there are about 2.5 million registered companies that fall under the category of private enterprises. Ownership of some of the premier infrastructural sectors, such as the railway, telecommunication firms, aircraft, and electricity is still controlled by the French government. However, from 1990 onwards, the government is slowly relaxing its control over these key sectors through selling off its holdings. This is evident in the fact that Air France, France Télécom, and sectors like banking, insurance, and defense are gradually getting out of strong government control.


The Politics of France follows the structure of semi-presidential representative democratic republic. The country is headed by the President of France, who is the head of the state. The French prime minister acts as the head of the government. The political scenario constitutes of a multi-party system. The executive power lies with the government. The legislature and the executive do not participate in the functioning of the judiciary. Thus, in the face of its burgeoning status as a world power, the top powers of the world keep a close eye on the course of Economy and Politics of France

The Financial Crisis and its Impact on Mauritius

Port Louis — The economic outlook in the US and EU, the two largest export markets of emerging countries, has worsened as the credit crisis has deepened and some major players are in recession. How does this affect us?

The grey outlook for Europe has affected the performance of our hotel stocks. Tourist arrivals are also bound to suffer as our tourists come mainly from Europe.

The now famous "financial crisis", which started in the US markets in July 2007, has already had a spill-over effect on European banks and other global major banks and economies. A recent observation that sums up of how people view the current situation: "On the left side of the balance sheet, nothing is right, on the right side of the balance sheet, nothing is left." Though some might argue that most economies are decoupled with one another, we believe that the Mauritian economy and local stock market is fairly correlated with US and European economies. From February 2008, the local stock market and Mauritian economy (which have seen growth forecasts trimmed) have been put under enormous pressure and major players such as the Central bank have been in the dilemma of sustaining growth or inflation control, thus the split in the Central Bank Monetary policy.

Between the positive assurances of our ministers and the pessimistic outlook of our lobby groups, it can be hard to make sense of how the financial crisis has and will continue to affect the Mauritian economy. Being a small and open economy, Mauritius can hardly be sheltered from global economic hiccups. Over the past six months, exports to Europe, our main trading partner have come under increasing pressure and tourism receipts have slowed. Over the next year, the current account deficit is likely to widen and volatile capital inflows should continue to slow. Despite a favourable interest rate differential, the Mauritian Rupee has come under sustained pressure since the end of April and has since then depreciated by 17% vs. the USD putting a negative dent on inflation. The medium term outlook for the MUR/USD remains uncertain but biased towards the downside unless a sudden large inflow of Foreign Direct Investment. On its part the mere fact that Europe may be in deeper trouble than the US has had a negative impact on the EUR and the USD has rallied from 1.58 to 1.34 USD/EUR. Volatility in the MUR/USD exchange rate has shot up in recent months and the recent 40M dollars worth of dollar sales in the FOREX market has done precious little to break the Rupee's volatile trend. Hence the Rupee has been negatively affected by the crisis so far. Over the next twelve months, the Bank of Mauritius is likely to be forced to sell more dollars in the market as our trade balance deteriorates (supply of forex dries up as export receipts slow) which in turn is likely to absorb in a certain amount of Rupee liquidity out of the money markets. The crisis seems to have redirected the priorities of the Monetary Policy Committee towards growth rather than inflation. Real interest rates in Mauritius are negative and detrimental to long term growth.

Mauritian Politics

Mauritius Politics is based on the principles representative democracy. The parliament of the Republic of Mauritius plays a major role in the political scenario of the country. There are various social as well as political forces that work in the country. Mauritius is the 29th among the countries, which are under the British Commonwealth.

Mauritius Politics became dominant in the country after it gained independence from the British Rule in the year 1968. Mauritius elections were held for the first time in December 1995, followed by elections in 2000 and 2005. The National Assembly in the country that has total 66 members. General elections are held after every five years to select 62 out of 66 members of the National Assembly. The remaining four members, who represent different ethnic minorities, are appointed by the election commission.

The most interesting part about politics in Mauritius is the myriad political parties in the country. Some of the important Mauritius political parties are as folows:
Militant Socialist Movement (MSM)
Militant Movement of Mauritius (MMM)
Mauritian Labor Party (MLP)
Mauritian Social Democrat Party (PMSD)
Rodrigues People's Organisation (RPO)
Independent Forward Bloc (IFB)
Mauritian Party of Xavier-Luc Duval
Rodrigues Movement
Mauritian Militant Socialist Movement (MMSM)