Real GDP grew by 8 percent, IMF says

Cape Verde’s real GDP grew by 8 percent in both 1998 and 1999, and its inflation rate was halved to some 4 percent between 1997 and 1999, the IMF said. The country has made progress in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform, added the IMF, whose executive board this week completed a review of the country’s performance under a stand-by arrangement approved in February 1998. However, largely because of factors beyond the authorities’ control, fiscal slippages occurred in the second half of 1999, which led to declines in international reserves and a temporary reintroduction of foreign exchange rationing, the IMF said. Corrective measures taken by the authorities at the end of 1999, together with privatization revenues, succeeded in reducing macroeconomic imbalances and eliminating the need for foreign exchange rationing, it said.