Praia, Cape Verde, 24 Feb – The Cape Verdean Finance Ministry and National Association of Municipalities have signed the agreement for a 10 million euro credit line granted by the French Development Agency, indicates a ministry press release cited by Cape Verde’s Inforpress news agency.
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The IMF which completed a mission to Cape Verde on April 15th issued the following prress release about its findings there:
Statement at the Conclusion of an IMF Mission to Cape Verde
Press Release No. 09/126
April 14, 2009An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Mr. Lamin Leigh, visited Cape Verde during April 3-15, 2009. The purpose of the visit was two-fold: to conduct the sixth review of the Policy Support Instrument (PSI), and to negotiate a one-year extension of the PSI at the request of the Cape Verde authorities. The current three-year PSI arrangement was approved by the IMF Executive Board in July 2006 and is due to expire in July 2009. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Leigh made the following statement:
“The mission held extensive and productive discussions with government officials, representatives of the private sector and the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, and would like to thank the authorities for their excellent cooperation. Cape Verde’s economic and policy performance remains strong and so far the impact of global shocks remain manageable thanks to sizable buffers built in recent years through prudent macroeconomic management, especially the fiscal space created in the last three years. The sixth PSI review discussions focused on how best to execute the 2009 budget while preserving the external position against the background of the current global economic difficulties; the authorities’ medium-term fiscal framework, and measures to strengthen public financial and debt management and the financial sector.
“Looking ahead, the ongoing global economic difficulties will pose challenges for the Cape Verde economy. While the moderation in GDP growth is likely to stem from the projected global slowdown in tourism and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows, countercyclical fiscal policy will partly mitigate their impact and support economic activity. Inflation would continue to decline to low single digits consistent with the peg to the euro and the high pass-through of international prices in this highly open economy. The outlook is subject to large margins of error given the uncertainty about both the depth and duration of global recession and the resilience of Cape Verde’s economy to previous global economic downturns.
“The mission supports the fiscal stimulus measures that the government has taken to support economic activity in a year when net external demand and private sector growth are expected to weaken. The mission also welcomes the government’s plans to protect social spending in the budget, as the global crisis is likely to hit hardest the poor and vulnerable segments of the population. Monetary management which smoothes short term capital flows continues to be broadly appropriate. Thus, the exchange rate peg continues to be supported by domestic policies and serves Cape Verde well as an anchor for financial stability. Steady progress is also being made in the implementation of structural reforms in particular on improving public debt and financial management and strengthening the financial system.
“IMF staff will continue its close policy dialogue with the Cape Verde government with a view to presenting the sixth review under the PSI for discussion to the IMF Executive Board in June.”
IMF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
| Public Affairs | Media Relations | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone: | 202-623-7300 | Phone: | 202-623-7100 | |
| Fax: | 202-623-6278 | Fax: | 202-623-6772 | |
Link to IMF Press Release on Cape Verde
In a statement issued by Cape Verdean news agency Inforpress, Halcyonair Cabo Verde Airways announced the launch of two new weekly flights to the islands of Fogo and Maio starting form 28 February. This service has been introduced in response to the “huge demand and number of requests,” from the market.
Once the new routes are launched using an ATR-42-320 aircraft, with capacity for 48 passengers, Halcyonair will operate flights to six of the archipelago’s islands.
In partnership with a Cape Verdean tour operator Halcyonair’s aircraft will also operate a charter flight between the islands of Sal and Fogo on a Saturday.
Halcyonair Cabo Verde Airways launched its domestic flights on 31 July, 2008, operating daily to the islands of Sal, S. Vicente and Santiago, and three weekly flights to the island of Boa Vista.
The 2009 Index of Economic Freedom ranked Cape Verde 77th in the scale of overall economic freedoms. This is an improvement of 3.4% and places Cape Verde in the ‘Mostly Free’ bracket.
The Index combines several comparative measures to assess an individuals financial freedom and economic liberty as described in the FAQ pages of the report.
The highest form of economic freedom provides an absolute right of property ownership, fully realized freedoms of movement for labor, capital, and goods, and an absolute absence of coercion or constraint of economic liberty beyond the extent necessary for citizens to protect and maintain liberty itself. In other words, individuals are free to work, produce, consume, and invest in any way they please, and that freedom is both protected by the state and unconstrained by the state.
The Economic Regulation Agency (ARE) had initially indicated to news agency A Semana Online that fuel prices would be reduced from January 20th however with conditions favouring an earlier drop, the costs of diesel went down yesterday from 125 to 112.4 escudos per litre.
As reported in Macau Hub, foreign investment in Cape Verde almost doubled through 2008.
The good news was announced by Cabo Verde Investimentos which stated that 19 investment projects were approved in 2008 representing an increase of 46% on the previous year.
The actual amount of foreign investment almost doubled from 1.149 billion euros in 2007 to 2.639 billion euros last year.
See the article on Macau Hub for more details of investments by islands and projects expected to launch in 2009.
Tourism accounted for 99% of total FDI in 2008 as compared to 97% percent the previous year and interestingly significant growth was seen in investment from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium and Ireland.
Here are the dates for this year’s public holidays in Cape Verde
1 Jan – New Year’s Day
20 Jan – Heroes’ Day
24 Feb – Carnival
25 Feb Ash Wednesday
1 May Labour Day
19 May Municipal Day
5 Jul Independence Day
15 Aug Assumption (Day of Our Lady of Grace)
12 Sep National Day
1 Nov All Saints’ Day
25 Dec Christmas Day
Cape Verde is showing its interest in attracting Chinese tourists with its presence at the International Tourist Fair in Beijing.
According to José Correia, secretary of the Cape Verdean embassy in Beijing, “China is one of the countries with most tourism potential.” If anything that is a bit of an understatement when you consider the remarkable growth of China’s tourism sector. It posted a 22.6 % increase in 2007, which brought the value of the market to US$155.7 billion.
The Cape Verde group Oásis Atlântico continues to invest in real estate and the tourism industry in Cape Verde with the new Salinas development. Consisting of the Salinas Sea, private luxury apartments in a 5 star apart-hotel and the Salina Sand holiday resort in the St. Maria area of Sal this new development will cost an approximate €57 million.
