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The government will also invest money next year in Ile Perseverance, where it plans to provide water, electricity and sewerage, Finance Minister Danny Faure said on Saturday.

He was addressing a press conference also attended by members of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, principal secretary for finance Ahmed Afif and Caroline Abel of the Central Bank.

He said the Public Utilities Corporation needs R500 million for the new facilities, but since the government does not have that much money at its disposal it will disburse it over a period of three years.

He said a projected budgetary surplus amounting to 7% of the gross domestic product (GDP) will allow for this capital expenditure, adding that the government continues to give priority to housing.

“We intend to pool resources so as to provide these facilities on Ile Perseverance, for example,” he said.
He said prudent spending has, this year, yielded a surplus which is above target by 3% of the GDP.

Mr Faure also said Air Seychelles is asking for a R30 million guarantee which the government hopes to give after a strategic assessment by experts from overseas.

He also said the government plans to pay – by December 31 – those who are due for compensation and benefits.
Mr Faure said certain sectors like health and education need more money. The Ministry of Health, for example, suddenly found the cost of medicine soaring after the reforms were introduced a year ago.

The head of the IMF mission, Paul Mathieu, said the fact that the government is asking for a budget supplement does not mean it has misused money.

“On the contrary, the government has done very well and exceeded the target over the last nine months. We have looked at the proposed supplementation together and we are in agreement,” he said.

After announcing that Seychelles will benefit from US $30.7 million under the extended fund facility of the IMF, he said Seychelles deserves it because of the way the reform programme has gone. He has never seen such ownership of a reform programme by the people as in Seychelles, he added.

Mr Mathieu said it is the first time since 2002 that any middle-income country has enjoyed such a facility.