President Wavel Ramkalawan chaired a scheduled meeting of the Cabinet today, Wednesday 26th October in which a number of policy and legal memoranda were considered and approved.

Cabinet approved an amendment under the Income and Non-Monetary Benefits Tax Act, 2010.  This amendment will rectify an unfairness in the law where previously back payment of employees attracted a higher tax than if the payment had been made on time.  With the amendment employers will be able to withhold the same amount of tax on the payment of emoluments in arrears, as if the back payments was received in the month(s) to which the back pay is attributed.

Cabinet endorsed the Bank Resolution Framework presented by the Central Bank of Seychelles.  The framework will be used to guide the restructuring of a failed bank by a resolution authority (RA), which is the Central Bank of Seychelles in the case of Seychelles, to restore the bank or part of the bank to soundness.

Cabinet also considered and approved a number of policy and legal amendments in line with the forthcoming 2023 Budget proposal.

Cabinet took note of the upgrade that Seychelles has received in the FITCH rating from B+ to BB- with a stable outlook.  This improvement in the rating reflects the country’s declining debt and its remaining on track to reduce the debt/GDP ratio to around 56 percent by end of 2024.  Cabinet commended the Ministry of Finance, National Planning and Trade; and the Central Bank for their continuous hard work.

Further details to the media will be provided by the relevant Ministry.