The International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintains Tuesday its forecast for GDP growth in Cabo Verde of 4.4% in 2023 and inflation of 5.2%, with a decrease in fuel prices and food products.
The forecasts were made to the press in Praia by Justin Tyson, head of an IMF mission that last week was in Cabo Verde to discuss with national authorities the implementation of the country’s economic reform agenda, under the Extended Credit Facility Program (ECF), supported by the Fund and signed on June 15, 2022.
In the mission’s final communiqué, the international financial institution noted that Cape Verde’s performance under the program “is robust” and that last year it recorded “a strong recovery,” underpinned by a rebound in tourism. “The economy recovered strongly in 2022, having registered a growth of 17.7%, the primary deficit fell to 1.9% of GDP, the debt in relation to GDP decreased, the current account improved and international reserves remained at levels adequate to protect from indexation to the euro”, it noted.
According to the same source, last year the Cape Verdean authorities used monetary and fiscal policy to support the recovery and mitigate the effects of the crisis on the most vulnerable. For this current year, the IMF maintains its forecasts of “moderating” real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 4.4 percent as export growth normalizes.
The IMF also noted that Cabo Verde is “highly vulnerable” to the effects of climate change, but noted government measures for adaptation and mitigation.