Bissau, Guinea Bissau, 12 Aug – The Guinea Bissau economy is this year expected to post growth of 4.3 percent as a result of a good campaign to export cashew nuts, the country’s main export product and from construction of infrastructures, the country’s Economy and Planning minister, Helena Embaló said Thursday in Bissau.

According to the minister, the projections form the government point to the country having good possibilities of growing more in the next few years provided it puts in place several reform programmes now underway, particularly within the military sector.

According to Embaló, growth of around 4.3 percent, “is good,” but the country has the capacity to achieve a higher rate given that figures from the government and the Chamber of commerce point to the cashew nut export record being broken this year, with around 170,000 tons.

The representative of the African Development Bank (ADB), Ansumane Mané, had already publically praised Guinea’s Bissau’s economic growth, noting that the country had not had news like this for a long time.

“For almost ten years the government had no agreement, no programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but in 2010, the country managed a debt pardon of over US$1 billion and that performance encourages the ADB and other partners to provide more support,” said Mané. (macauhub)