Empirically, it has been established that increased use of credit cards is positively co-related with economic growth and exports. In Mauritius, the growth of e-payments, which cover the entire spectrum of use of the electronic media for settling transactions and would hence include among others, credit and debit cards, internet banking and mobile banking, has been tremendous.
In the face of fewer employment opportunities over recent years, particularly in resource-related industries, there has been a decline in the (net) number of immigrants arriving to seek work. While we’d expect the labour supply to respond to economic conditions in Australia relative to those overseas, the adjustment has been more pronounced than earlier anticipated.