Mauritius’ central bank held its key interest rate at 4.5%, citing an easing in inflationary pressures, reflecting the coupled effects of falling global commodity prices and the lagged impact of rate hikes in 2022. The country’s annual inflation rate eased to 7.9% YoY in May from 8.3% in the previous month. Officials expect inflation to progressively decline to around 6.8% by year-end while also expecting a pick-up in the domestic economy, particularly in the tourism and manufacturing sectors.