The economy of Cape Verde grew by 3.5 percent last year, more than doubling the 1.5 percent growth recorded in 2015, the Macauhub website reports.

“We are growing three times more than the average of recent years and we are lowering the budget deficit, but the country still has huge challenges ahead in terms of fiscal consolidation,” Cape Verde’s Finance Minister Olavo Correia was quoted as saying by Portuguese news agency Lusa.

Macauhub says the archipelago’s public debt increased from 127.8 percent of GDP in 2015 to 128.6 percent last year, while the budget deficit dropped from 4.6 percent of GDP in 2015 to 3.5 percent last year.

Mr Correia said the figures overall pointed to a positive trend for economic growth and a reduction of budget deficit.