ers:
EC and US have preferential treatment, EU 77%, US 15%
Imports:
$1.63 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities:
manufactured goods 50%, capital equipment 17%, foodstuffs 13%,
petroleum products 8%, chemicals 7%
partners:
EC, US, South Africa, Japan
External debt:
$991 million (1992 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 7% (1990); accounts for 25% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
235,000 kW
production:
630 million kWh
consumption per capita:
570 kWh (1992)
Industries:
food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, wearing apparel,
chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical
machinery, tourism
Agriculture:
accounts for 10% of GDP; about 90% of cultivated land in sugarcane;
other products - tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses, cattle, goats,
fish; net food importer, especially rice and fish
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; heroin
consumption and transshipment are growing problems
Economic aid:
recipient:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $76 million; Western
(non-US) countries (1970-89), $709 million; Communist countries
(1970-89), $54 million
Currency:
1 Mauritian rupee (MauR) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
Mauritian rupees (MauRs) per US$1 - 18.696 (January 1994), 17.648
(1993), 15.563 (1992), 15.652 (1991), 14.839 (1990), 15.250 (1989)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June

@Mauritius, Communications

Highways:
total:
1,800 km
paved:
1,640 km
unpaved:
earth 160 km
Ports:
Port Louis
Merchant marine:
14 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 162,387 GRT/260,552 DWT, bulk 6,
cargo 7, liquefied gas 1
Airports:
total:
5
usable:
4
with permanent-surface runways:
2
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
1
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
0
Telecommunications:
small system with good service utilizing primarily microwave radio
relay; new microwave link to Reunion; high-frequency radio links to
several countries; over 48,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 2 AM,
no FM, 4 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station

@Mauritius, Defense Forces

Branches:
National Police Force, including the paramilitary Special Mobile Force
(SMF), Special Support Units (SSU), and National Coast Guard
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 316,975; fit for military service 161,634
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $5 millio