The carbon tax against smoke and vehicle congestion

The IMF and the country's financial authorities have had discussions under the Article IV Consultation in late January/early February.

"Maurice is a pioneer in environmental taxes but can do even more, especially regarding traffic congestion," says the financial institution.

Tax policy has a key role to play including the adjustment of vehicle taxation."Explicit carbon tax could replace a similar tax to improve environmental policy," says the IMF.

France had, some years ago, plans to introduce a carbon tax, and then the idea was abandoned, probably because of its unpopularity. The principle of a carbon tax is that vehicles with the highest carbon emissions would pay more.

In Mauritius, this initiative would penalize first of all buses and other old trucks on our roads with impunity, despite the existence in principle of a law allowing authorities to take action against vehicle smoke.