Cape Verde's government recorded a provisional overall budget surplus equal to 0.7% of GDP in the first nine months of 2026, as total revenue, including asset sales, rose 9.7% from a year earlier to 63.7bn CVE (€578mn), Secretary of State for Finance Maria José Lopes said on October 28, according to the finance ministry. She spoke at the opening of an IMF mission, running until November 6, for two reviews each of Cape Verde's loan and climate programs.
Analysis: The 0.7%-of-GDP surplus contrasts with the full-year deficit target of 1.9% of GDP, a difference of 2.6 percentage points. But the reported revenue includes sales of non-financial assets, whose contribution the ministry did not disclose, obscuring the underlying tax trend. A surplus nine months into the year may indicate delayed spending or heavier expenditure in the final quarter, both relevant to government suppliers. The IMF mission ends on November 6. Any resulting staff-level agreement would still require Executive Board approval before additional funding could be released.
Source: Ministério das Finanças de Cabo Verde, Finance ministry news release, 'Governo quer ver o FMI como um verdadeiro parceiro de desenvolvimento', October 28, 2026, January–September 2026 and October 26–November 6, 2026; Ministério das Finanças de Cabo Verde, Ministério das Finanças, Relatório OE 2027, 2027