Praia, Cape Verde, 02 Aug – Cape Verde exports rose 113 percent in June, when compared to the same period last year, showing it has maintained its pace of strong growth felt since the start of the year, the Directorate-General for Customs said.

In June, Cape Verdean exports rose to 184 million Cape Verdean escudos, (US$2.13 million), compared to 88 million Cape Verdean escudos (US$ 1.02 million) in the same period last year.

This increase is almost entirely explained by the growth in exports of sea products, while manufactured products (shoes and clothing) saw a decrease of 60 percent.

The export figure for June represents a slight decrease to the figure from May, which saw 1.89 million Cape Verdean escudos (US$2.19 million) in exports.

Cape Verdean exports reached its peak this year in March with a total 217 million Cape Verdean escudos (US$2.5 million), a figure that represented a 126 percent rise from the year before.

Cape Verdean customs data also showed that imports rose 3 percent in June, when compared to the same period a year earlier, to 3.48 billion Cape Verdean escudos (US$40.3 million).

The largest increases came from intermediate goods and consumer goods, as the value of imports of capital goods declined and fuel stayed at the same level as last year. (macauhub)