STC Board Sacked Over Cost-of-Living Delays, Says Minister Sik Yuen

Mauritius's Commerce and Consumer Protection Minister, Michael Sik Yuen, announced on Wednesday the dismissal of the entire board of directors of the State Trading Corporation (STC), the state-owned body responsible for importing and distributing essential goods in Mauritius. The sacked board was chaired on a part-time, non-executive basis by economist Takesh Luckho, who also holds a position at the Ministry of Finance. **What is the STC?** The State Trading Corporation is a government parastatal that plays a central role in Mauritius's supply chain for key commodities — including petroleum products, flour, rice, and other staples. Because it controls the importation and pricing of several essential goods, its decisions have a direct impact on what consumers pay in shops and at the petrol pump. **Why was the board dismissed?** Minister Sik Yuen cited delays in implementing government directives aimed at expanding the range of products the STC imports. The objective of those instructions was to increase supply on the local market and help bring prices down — a key plank of the government's response to the rising cost of living that has squeezed Mauritian households in recent years. In plain terms, the minister is saying the board was too slow to act on orders designed to put more goods on shelves and take pressure off prices. **Who is affected?** The dismissal targets the board of directors — the governing body responsible for strategic oversight — and not the STC's day-to-day management. CEO Suren Dayal remains in his post. Former chairman Takesh Luckho, an economist attached to the Finance Ministry, loses his part-time board role but his position at the ministry is unaffected. **What this means** This is a significant intervention. Sacking an entire parastatal board is an unusual step, and doing so publicly signals that the government is under pressure to show it is acting decisively on the cost-of-living crisis. Mauritius has faced sustained inflationary pressure, with import costs rising sharply — including a 59% surge in the fuel bill in a single quarter — making price relief a politically urgent issue. By placing responsibility on the board rather than the executive management, the minister draws a clear line: the strategy and governance failed, not necessarily the operations. A new board is expected to be appointed, likely with a mandate to move faster on import diversification. For consumers, the immediate practical impact remains to be seen. The effectiveness of the policy — importing more goods to lower prices — will depend on how quickly a new board is constituted and how aggressively it acts. Source: ION News