Cape Verde PM Accuses Predecessors of Deceiving IMF
Cape Verdean Prime Minister Francisco Carvalho launched a scathing attack on his predecessors during a National Assembly budget hearing, accusing the former administration of “deceiving” the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to hide a massive spending spree.
A €72.6 Million Budgetary Spike
Addressing the assembly during the presentation of a rectifying budget, Carvalho alleged that the previous Movement for Democracy (MpD) government presided over a “slippage” in public spending totaling approximately eight billion escudos (€72.6 million). The Prime Minister claims this spike occurred in the months surrounding the May 17 legislative elections, which saw his party, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), return to power.
“The Government managed to deceive the IMF, which did not detect that slippage in the State Budget,” Carvalho stated, further accusing the National Statistics Institute (INE) of generating “falsified data” to mask the true state of the nation’s finances.
Allegations of ‘Squandering’
According to the Prime Minister, the 2026 State Budget originally approved in December 2025 was set at 95.7 billion escudos (€868 million). However, by the time the new government took office in June, projected spending had surged to 104 billion escudos (€943 million).
“This increase happened because before and after the election, with the MpD losing, they continued to take measures, spending State money in a process of clearly squandering,” Carvalho argued. “There is no other word for it.”
The Rectifying Budget
The Prime Minister defended the need for an emergency rectifying budget, now totaling 103.9 billion escudos (€942 million), as a vital tool to restore fiscal discipline. He noted that the discrepancies were fully identified during an IMF mission to the island nation in late July.
Carvalho emphasized that his administration’s priority is to correct the inherited expenditure levels, vowing to “respect every escudo of the Cape Verdean taxpayers.” The new budget seeks to slightly reduce projected spending by €1.12 million and reallocate existing resources toward social programs.
Opposition and IMF Response
Luís Carlos Silva, the parliamentary leader for the MpD, dismissed the Prime Minister’s allegations as groundless. Silva countered that the IMF views its relationship with Cape Verde as “excellent and historic” and characterized the previous government’s economic legacy as being in “excellent condition.”
Following an initial mission to meet the new executive last Friday, IMF Executive Director for Cape Verde André Roncaglia expressed “hope and confidence” in the country’s continued commitment to macroeconomic stability. While the IMF mission focused on understanding the new government’s priorities, the institution has not yet issued a formal response to the Prime Minister’s specific allegations of deception.
The Cape Verdean National Statistics Institute has also not yet commented on the accusations regarding the integrity of its data.
Image: Pexels – Max Avans
