Editing Economy of Mauritius (section)

== History ==
The Mauritian economy has undergone remarkable transformations since independence.<ref name="Toth">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite encyclopedia|title=Indian Ocean: five island countries|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/95016570/|last=Toth|first=Anthony|date=1995|editor-last=Metz|editor-first=Helen Chapin|editor-link=Helen Chapin Metz |edition=3rd|pages=120–121|isbn=0-8444-0857-3|oclc=32508646|entry=Mauritius: Economy}} }}</ref> From a poor country with high unemployment exporting mainly sugar and buffeted by the vagaries of world demand, Mauritius has become relatively prosperous and diverse, although not without problems.<ref name="Toth" />

The 1970s were marked by a strong government commitment to diversify the economy and to provide more high-paying jobs to the population.<ref name="Toth" /> The promotion of tourism and the creation of the EPZs did much to attain these goals.<ref name="Toth" /> Between 1971 and 1977, about 64,000 jobs were created.<ref name="Toth" /> However, in the rush to make work, the government allowed EPZ firms to deny their workers fair wages, the right to organize and strike, and the health and social benefits afforded other Mauritian workers.<ref name="Toth" /> The boom in the mid-1970s was also fuelled by increased foreign aid and exceptional sugar crops, coupled with high world prices.<ref name="Toth" />

The economic situation deteriorated in the late 1970s.<ref name="Toth" /> Petroleum prices rose, the sugar boom ended, and the balance of payments deficit steadily rose as imports outpaced exports; by 1979 the deficit amounted to a staggering US$111 million.<ref name="Toth" /> Mauritius approached the IMF and the World Bank for assistance.<ref name="Toth" /> In exchange for loans and credits to help pay for imports, the government agreed to institute certain measures, including cutting food subsidies, devaluing the currency, and limiting government wage increases.<ref name="Toth" />

By the 1980s, thanks to a widespread political consensus on broad policy measures, the economy experienced steady growth, declining inflation, high employment, and increased domestic savings.<ref name="Toth" /> The EPZ with investment principally from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and came into its own, surpassing sugar as the principal export-earning sector and employing more workers than the sugar industry and the government combined, previously the two largest employers.<ref name="Toth" /> In 1986 Mauritius had its first trade surplus in twelve years.<ref name="Toth" /> Tourism also boomed, with a concomitant expansion in the number of hotel beds and air flights.<ref name="Toth" /> An aura of optimism accompanied the country's economic success and prompted comparisons with other Asian countries that had dynamic economies, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea.<ref name="Toth" />

The economy had slowed down by the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the government was optimistic that it could ensure the long-term prosperity of the country by drawing up and implementing prudent development plans.<ref name="Toth" /> A stock exchange opened in Port Louis in 1989.<ref name="Toth" /> As of 1993, Mauritius had a gross domestic product (GDP) estimated at US$8.6 billion, with a growth rate of 5.5 percent, and an inflation rate of 10.5 percent.<ref name="Toth" />