The Bank of Mauritius (French: Banque de Maurice) is the central bank of the Republic of Mauritius. It was established in September 1967 as the central bank of Mauritius. It was modelled on the Bank of England and was actually established with the assistance of senior officials of the Bank of England. One of its responsibilities was to issue the Mauritian currency, namely the Mauritian Rupee.

History

In the 19th century, three independent commercial banks (now all insolvent) operated under the name of the Bank of Mauritius.

The first bank in Mauritius started operations around 1813 but only survived until 1825.

The Second Bank of Mauritius was a British overseas bank with two boards of directors, one in London and the other in Port Louis. It began operations in 1832 to benefit the interests of the plantation-owning class. In 1838, merchants established the Commercial Bank of Mauritius to provide themselves with another source of credit, as prior to its establishment, the Bank of Mauritius had a monopoly on the island. The financial crisis in London in 1847 caused the sugar market to collapse, and both banks in Mauritius suffered heavy losses. The Bank of Mauritius went out of business in 1848, but the Commercial Bank of Mauritius has remained in existence to this day.

In 1894, local interests formed the Third Bank of Mauritius to take over the local operations of the failing New Oriental Banking Company. In 1911, the bank opened a branch in the Seychelles. However, in 1916, the Commercial Bank of India (established in 1893) acquired the bank. HSBC in turn acquired the Commercial Bank in 1959. Due to this history, HSBC refers to itself as the oldest foreign bank in Mauritius. The next foreign bank to arrive and survive to this day was the State Bank of South Africa, the ancestor of the Associated Bank of Mauritius Limited (formerly known as Mauritius Barclays).

In addition to the three banks mentioned above, there was a bank called the Bank of Mauritius, Bourbon and Dependency Colonies that operated between 1812 and 1813.

Currency Committee

Before the establishment of the bank, the issuance of money was managed by the Monetary Affairs Committee. The duties of this committee were limited to those of the issuing authority.

The establishment of the Bank of Mauritius marked the beginning of a new phase in the history of Mauritian currency, with the monetary system moving forward from the "pound sterling convertibility standard" phase, in which money was issued at a fixed exchange rate in exchange for pounds sterling, to the "managed currency" phase, in which the discretionary role of the monetary authority became important.

Objectives of the Bank

The Bank of Mauritius Act 1966 (as amended) sets out the Bank's purposes, namely, to "protect the internal and external value of the Mauritian currency and its internal convertibility" and to "direct its policies to achieve monetary conditions conducive to the enhancement of Mauritian economic activity and prosperity".

The Bank is the institution responsible for the formulation and implementation of monetary policy subject to stable price conditions. It is also responsible for maintaining the stability and strengthening of the Mauritian financial system.

Online sale of commemorative coins

On March 12, 2008, the Bank of Mauritius began selling commemorative coins and dodo gold coins online to international buyers