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Mayotte

Political sketch

Also called Mahoré. Formerly part of the Comoros. Today a French departmental collectivity.

France gained control over Mayotte in 1843, the first of the Comoros Islands in which that was the case. France took possession of the remaining islands in 1886. They became part of the neighboring colony of Madagascar in 1914. The Comoros became an overseas territory of France in 1947. In 1961, the year after Madagascar became independent, the islands were granted internal autonomy. In 1974 majorities on three of the four islands voted for independence; the exception was Mayotte. When the National Assembly of France held that each island should decide its own status, the Comorian government declared its independence on 6 July 1975. In December 1975, France recognized the sovereignty of the three islands but not that of Mayotte. In 1976 Mayotte became a French territorial collectivity, a special kind of administrative unit. On 11 July 2001 it became a departmental collectivity. Mayotte's economy is heavily agricultural, and the main exports are ylang-ylang (a perfume essence) and vanilla. Subsidies from France are significant.

Wars since 1500

Conflict establishing the separation of Mayotte from the Comoros, 1975.

Convertibility

The French franc zone:

When the First World War began, France imposed a moratorium of payments on all negotiable instruments starting 1 August 1914. The moratorium was subsequently extended by decrees until 1 March 1915. The central bank, the Bank of France, abandoned the gold standard on 5 August 1914, although no official prohibition on exporting gold existed until by a decree of 3 July 1915, affirmed by a law of 15 November 1915. A decree of 2 April 1918 prohibited capital exports without authorization. A law of 25 June 1928 officially restored the gold standard and repealed exchange controls. When the French franc was an object of currency speculation , a law of 13 August 1936 imposed extensive exchange controls, supplementing some lesser measures that had been implemented in 1935.

France imposed exchange controls on 9 September 1939 by a decree of that date, soon after the Second World War broke out. On 20 May 1940, capital controls within the franc zone were greatly relaxed by a French decree of that date. Exchanges between France and its African colonies were cut off from the time of the Allied invasion of French Morocco and Algeria in November 1942 to about September 1944, by which time the Allies had liberated Paris and the main French port cities. Exchange controls within the franc zone were not removed until 6 June 1946. Afterwards, the CFA franc became convertible both for current- and capital-account transactions within the French franc zone (France, Monaco, And French possessions, including countries using the CFA franc). France had multiple exchange rates from 26 January 1948 until 17 October 1948, and a dual exchange rate from 18 October 1948 to 29 September 1949. On 20 September 1949 it devalued the French franc and unified the exchange rate, taking advantage of the lead offered by the United Kingdom, which had devalued the pound sterling on 18 September 1949.

The CFA franc zone:

All independent countries belonging to the CFA franc zone except Mali issued laws or decrees stating that effective 1 July 1967, financial relations with foreign countries were in principle free. Madagascar (then called the Malagasy Republic) issued similar legislation on the same date; Mali waited until 29 March 1968. The CFA franc zone countries were following earlier French legislation (France, Law No. 66-1007, 28 December 1966; Decree No. 67-78, 27 January 1967, effective 31 January 1967). France reintroduced exchange controls on 29 May 1968, during a period of strikes and riots (France, Decree No. 68-481, 29 May 1968). It removed controls on 4 September 1968 (France, Decree No. 68-788, 4 September 1968) but reimposed them on 25 November 1968 (France, Decree No. 68-1021, 24 November 1968) before revoking them on 1 January 1969. The CFA franc zone countries, including Madagascar, all strengthened their exchange controls against countries outside the French franc zone in 1968, following France, and loosened them in January 1969. France introduced a dual exchange rate on 21 August 1971 for itself and its French franc zone territories, which excluded Djibouti (France, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Circulaire du 20 août 1971 relative à l'exécution des transferts à destination de l'étranger, 20 August 1971). The CFA franc zone countries, including Madagascar, followed suit on these dates in 1968: Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville, 28 August; Burkina Faso (then called Upper Volta) and Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), 30 August; Gabon and Senegal, 31 August; Mauritania, 1 September; Chad, 3 September; Madagascar and Niger, 4 September; Togo, 7 September; Central African Republic, sometime in September; Benin (then called Dahomey) and Mali, 9 September. All except Madagascar and Mauritania abolished the dual market on 21 March 1974, the same day as France (France, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Circulaire du 20 mars 1974 relative à l'exécution des transferts entre la France et l'étranger sur le marché officiel des changes, 20 March 1974). Madagascar had withdrawn from the French franc zone effective 1 July 1973, and its dual market had ended on that date. Mauritania had introduced a new national currency on 29 June 1973 to replace the CFA franc, and its dual market had ended on that date. The dual exchange rate did not apply to transactions within the French franc zone, so purchases and sales of French francs for CFA francs continued to be made at a single rate, the official rate, which was a pegged rate. Certain purchases and sales of currencies outside the French franc zone had to be made at the so-called financial rate, which was a floating rate.

Other

The French government established the CFA franc on 26 December 1945. The CFA franc became the unit of account in French colonies in sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas that had previously used a local franc equal to the French franc. Local francs in North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco) and Djibouti remained in effect fully attached to the French franc. French colonies in the Pacific established a unit of account called the CFP franc, while Indochina, Syria and Lebanon, and Pondicherry (India) already had currencies that were not called francs. The CFA franc enabled the French government to make exchange rate policy in the colonies different from that in France. When making devaluations of the French franc against gold and the US dollar on 26 December 1945 and 17 October 1948, the French government devalued the CFA franc less, implying a revaluation against the French franc. The meaning of "CFA" was initially Colonies Françaises d'Afrique (colonies of France in Africa). In Africa, the meaning changed when the colonies established central banks in preparation for political independence. CFA came to mean Communauté Financière Africaine (African financial community) for the member countries of the Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO, opened 4 April 1959). It came to mean Coopération Financière en Afrique Centrale (financial cooperation in Central Africa) for the member countries of the Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique Équatoriale et du Cameroun (BCEAC, also opened 4 April 1959), which since 22 November 1972 has been called the Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC).

Defaults on or restructurings of debt to the private sector (mainly from Purcell and Kaufman 1993 and Standard & Poor's 2004): None.

Currency crashes: During the period Mayotte has been a separate administrative unit from France, it has used the French franc or the European euro, for which see the country information on France (forthcoming in 2006).

No exchange rate data in Reinhart and Rogoff (2003).

References

Primary sources:

--Laws and decrees:

Comoros. Gazette. 1960-present. Journal officiel des Comores (1960-1975); Journal officiel--État comorien (1975-present). Moroni.

European Community. Gazette. 1968-2003. Journal officiel des Communautés européenne. Législation (English version from 1973 Official Journal of the European Communities. Legislation). Luxembourg: Office des Publications Officielles des Communautés (in English, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities).

European Union. Gazette. 2003-present. Official Journal of the European Union. Luxembourg : Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Accessible through Eur-Lex portal to European law, <http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/>, viewed 23 October 2005.

France. Gazette. 1762-present. Gazette de France (1762-1789); Gazette nationale de France (1789-1799); Bulletin des lois (1791-1831; a separate publication); La gazette nationale ou le moniteur universel (1799-1810); Moniteur universel (1811-1848); Moniteur universel: journal officiel de la République française (1848-1852); Journal officiel de l'Empire français (1852-1870); Journal officiel de la République française (1871-1941); Journal officiel de l'État français (Vichy France, 1941-1944); Bulletin officiel des Forces françaises libres (Free France, 1940-1941); Journal officiel de la France libre (Free France, 1941); Journal officiel de la France combattante (Free France, 1941-1943); Journal officiel du Haut commissariat de France en Afrique (Free France, 1943); Journal officiel du Commandement en chef français en Afrique (Free France, 1943); Journal officiel de la République française (Free France, 1943-1944; France, 1944-present). Paris (1762-1940, 1944-present); Vichy (1940-1944); London (Free France, 1941-1943); Algiers (Free France, 1943-1944): Imprimerie des Journaux Officiels (1944?-present). Many issues are in France, Legifrance Web site (see below).

France. Legifrance Web site, <http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr>. Reference site for French treaties, laws, and decrees, including the full text for recent items.

France. Overseas gazette. 1887-1961. Bulletin officiel (1887-1953; new series, 1953-1959); Bulletin officiel de l'administration provisoire des services du Ministère de la France d'Outre-Mer (1959-1961). Issued by Ministère des Colonies (1887-1950); Ministère de la France d'Outre-Mer (1950-1961). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.

--Publications of monetary authorities:

For monetary authorities before 1975, see Comoros.

Banque de France. Annual report. 1975-present. Compte rendu des opérations présenté à Monsieur le Président de la République au nom du Conseil Général du la Banque de France par ..., Gouverneur (1976-1992); Rapport adressé à Monsieur le Président de la République et au Parlement par ..., Gouveneur (1993-present). English version Annual Report Submitted to the President of the French Republic on Behalf of the General Council of the Banque de France by the Governor, ... (1991-1992); Annual Report to the President of the Republic and Parliament by the Governor (1993-present). Paris: Imprimerie Dawant (1975); Banque de France (1976-present). (The surtitle on the cover of the French version since 2004 says Rapport annuel de la Banque de France.)

Banque de France. Bulletin. 1971-present. Bulletin trimestriel (1971-1993); Bulletin de la Banque de France (1994-present). English version Banque de France Bulletin Digest (1994-present; contains articles from other publications also). Paris: Banque de France. (The publication Études was a successor to the Bulletin trimestriel for longer studies.)

Banque de France. Cahiers économiques et monétaires. 1972-present. Paris: Banque de France.

Banque de France. Études. 1994-present. Paris: Banque de France.

European Central Bank. Annual report. 1998-present. Annual Report. Frankfurt: European Central Bank. (Versions also exist in many other European languages.)

European Central Bank. Bulletin. 1999-present. Monthly Bulletin. Frankfurt: European Central Bank. (Versions also exist in many other European languages.)

IEDOM. Institut d'Émission des Départements d'Outre-Mer. Annual report. 1999-present. Rapport annuel. Paris: Institut d'Émission des Départements d'Outre-Mer.

IEDOM. Institut d'Émission des Départements d'Outre-Mer. Annual report (branch). 1999-present. Mayotte en 1999 [etc.]. Paris: Institut d'Émission des Départements d'Outre-Mer.

IEDOM. Institut d'Émission des Départements d'Outre-Mer. Bulletin. 1999-present. Bulletin trimestriel de conjoncture. Paris: Institut d'Émission des Départements d'Outre-Mer.

IEDOM. Institut d'Émission des Départements d'Outre-Mer. Bulletin (branch). 1999-present. Bulletin trimestriel de conjoncture. Paris: Institut d'Émission des Départements d'Outre-Mer. (Broken into two parts: Bulletin trimestriel de conjoncture; suivi de la conjoncture économique and Bulletin trimestriel de conjoncture; suivi de la conjoncture financière et bancaire.)

IEOM. Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer. Annual report. 1975-1998. Rapport d'activité (1975-1991); Rapport annuel (1992-1998). Paris: Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer. (The annual report was divided into a general report and a separate report for each territory in which the organization operated.)

IEOM. Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer. Annual report (branch). 1975-1998. Rapport d'activité Mayotte (1973-1991); Rapport annuel Mayotte (1992-1998). Paris: Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer.

IEOM. Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer. Bulletin. 1975-present. Bulletin trimestriel de conjoncture. Paris: Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer.

IEOM. Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer. Bulletin (branch). 1975-present. Bulletin trimestriel de conjoncture, Mayotte. Paris: Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer.

Institut d'Émission des Comores. Annual report. 1977. Rapport annuel. Moroni: Institut d'Émission des Comores. (The organization issued its first annual report after Mayotte separated from the Comoros.)

--Web site of the current monetary authority (viewed 20 September 2005):

<http://www.iedom.fr>, <http://www.banque-france.fr>, and <http://www.ecb.int>

--Other publications or Web sites:

Comité Monétaire de la Zone Franc. Secrétariat. 1953-present. Premier [etc.] rapport annuel du Comité de la zone franc établi en exécution du décret du 5 fevrier 1952 (art. 4, §2) (1953-1956); La zone franc en 1957: cinquième rapport annuel du Comité Monétaire de la Zone Franc (1957); La zone franc en ...: rapport publié par le Secrétariat du Comité Monétaire de la Zone Franc (1958-1983); La zone franc: rapport ...: publié par le Secrétariat du Comité Monétaire de la Zone Franc (1984-1991); La zone franc: rappport annuel ...; publié par le Secrétariat du Comité Monétaire de la Zone Franc (1992-2003; inside page says La zone franc en ...); Rapport annuel de la zone franc (2004-present; inside cover says La zone franc: rapport annuel ...). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale (1953-1956); Secrétariat du Comité Monétaire de la Zone Franc (1957-1991; 1957 is a mimeo with no explicit publication information); Banque de France (1992-present). Recent issues are available on the Web site of the Banque de France, <http://www.banque-france.fr/fr/eurosys/zonefr/zonefr.htm>.

France. Commision de Surveillance des Banques Coloniales. 1875-1939. Rapport au président de la république sur les opérations des banques coloniales d'émission pendant l'exercise ... (1873/1874-1936/1937); Rapport au président de la république sur les opérations des banques coloniales d'émission ... (1927/1929-1936/1937). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.

Main secondary sources:

IMF ARER. 1950-present. International Monetary Fund. Annual Report on Exchange Restrictions (1950-1978), Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions (1979-1988), Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions: Annual Report (1989-present). Washington: International Monetary Fund. (Contains information on IMF member countries and some of their dependencies.)

Leduc, Michel. 1965. Les institutions monétaires africaines: pays francophones. Paris: Éditions A. Pedone. (Discusses the Comoros, not Mayotte specifically.)

Mazard, Jean. 1953. Histoire monétaire et numismatique des colonies et de l'Union française, 1670-1952. Paris: Émile Bourgey. (Discusses the Comoros, not Mayotte specifically.)

Monetary authorities: Mayotte

Exchange rate arrangements: Mayotte