Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has lowered the outlook for Cape Verde from stable to negative, due to lower than expected growth of the archipelago’s gross domestic product (GDP), the agency said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Fitch said that based on a new methodology, its estimate for real growth of Cape Verde’s GDP in the five years to 2012 was now 2.6 percent as compared to a previous calculation of 5.1 percent.

It also noted that a lack of figures for years before 2007 and for 2011 and 2012 made it difficult to estimate rates of growth or to make accurate projections for Cape Verde’s growth in the medium term.

Whilst waiting for the government to publish revised figures, Fitch Ratings lowered its projection for the archipelago’s economic growth in 2011 and 2012 to 3 percent.

The long term credit rating for debt in foreign currency was lowered from “BB-” to “B+” and the short term foreign currency debt rating remained unchanged in “B”. (macauhub)