Cabo Verde’s lending interest rate fell to 7.7% in 2025.

Neither way is good in itself. A lower rate cuts the cost of borrowing for firms and households, while a higher rate pays banks more for the risk they take, so which direction suits depends on whether you borrow or lend. The latest figure is 7.7% in 2025, slightly below the 7.8% of a year earlier. Since 2016 the rate has ranged from a high of 9.6% in 2016 to a low of 7.5% in 2023. The current level therefore sits close to the bottom of that range, only a little above the 2023 low.

Why it matters. For a business in Cabo Verde, a loan at around 7.7% costs far less than it did in 2016, when the rate reached 9.6%. That lowers the hurdle for financing stock, equipment or expansion and eases repayments on existing floating-rate debt. The rate has moved very little over the last year, so borrowers can plan around a stable cost. Banks earn less on each loan than they did at the start of the period.