Officials discussed Seychelles foreign exchange reserves during an extraordinary cabinet meeting chaired by President Dr Patrick Herminie on Monday 2 March 2026.
The meeting included Central Bank Governor Caroline Abel and representatives of essential entities in the country. Officials met to assess the impact of the war in the Gulf on Seychelles. They also discussed how the country could respond to potential economic effects.
Speaking after the meeting, Mrs Abel said the country currently holds reserves equivalent to four months.
“At the moment, our reserve is at a satisfying level. We have four months’ worth of reserve that Seychelles can use,” she said.
She said the Central Bank monitors the foreign exchange market daily. The bank aims to maintain stability in the market.
“The role of the Central Bank is to ensure that there is stability in the foreign exchange market and we monitor the market every day,” Mrs Abel said.
Mrs Abel also referred to the possible effect of the conflict on tourism. She said the situation shares similarities with the period during COVID-19. However, she said the foreign exchange market currently remains stable.
“With the war in the Gulf where Seychelles’ tourism industry is being affected, it is similar to COVID where even if not at 100%, at the moment we can say that the foreign exchange market is stable as the tourism sector was performing and the country was receiving revenue from the sector,” she said.
Mrs Abel said the Central Bank does not currently plan to use the country’s reserves.
“At the moment we don’t see the need to use the reserve as there is enough in the system to support anyone who needs foreign exchange to do their transaction,” she said.
However, she said the Central Bank has policies that can be activated if risks increase.
“What we have advised the Cabinet this morning chaired by President Dr Patrick Herminie is that we have a policy that we enact if ever there is a risk,” she said.
She added that the Central Bank would intervene if foreign exchange revenue declines.
“If the situation in the Gulf worsens where the amount of foreign exchange revenue reduces, this is where the Central Bank will come in to stabilise the market,” she said.
Mrs Abel said the bank could apply measures similar to those used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Similar to what we did during COVID, we will use the same formula to directly support SEYPEC and STC for fuel and food essentials,” she said.
She said the two entities would submit documentation to the Central Bank before receiving support.
For other sectors, the bank could inject reserves into the system to support economic activity.
Mrs Abel said any intervention would follow a priority system.
“We need to do it in a way whereby everyone understands that we are living in a new normal and that priority expenditure will be considered first as per our policy to maintain the reserve,” she said.
She added that priority spending would include medicine.