South Africa's government has amended its debt-relief terms for struggling state power utility Eskom so that loans to the company will be interest-bearing rather than interest-free, the National Treasury said on Wednesday at a mid-term budget review.
In February, the treasury said the government would take on 254 billion rand of Eskom's debt over the medium term, with strict conditions. These included that the advance funding would take the form of an interest-free subordinated loan from the National Revenue Fund to be settled in Eskom shares rather than cash.
But in the medium-term budget policy statement presented on Wednesday, the treasury said the government would convert the loans to interest-bearing from interest free to "better reflect the cost of this arrangement".If Eskom fails to comply with conditions, the finance minister may reduce amounts to be paid to the utility in future, an Eskom debt relief amendment bill showed.
As of the end of September, only 16 billion rand of the 78 billion rand debt relief for 2023/24 had been disbursed to Eskom, the treasury said.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
South Africa: Iran's President Is Visiting South AfricaIranian President Ebrahim Raisi has already visited Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe to diversify the country's international relations. Tehran considers South Africa a potential strategic partner and is seeking close ties.
Read more »
South Africa: Housing in South Africa - How Have We Done Since 1994?We've made progress but the quality of the data is poor, especially the latest census
Read more »
South Africa: Can South Africa Contain Pangolin Trafficking?Analysis - There are worrying signs that the illegal trade is becoming more organised, with professionals and government officials involved.
Read more »
South Africa: Eskom Implements Load SheddingEskom has implemented Stage 2 load shedding in a bid to replenish emergency reserves ahead of the colder weather expected this week.
Read more »
South Africa's Eskom reports larger $1.27 billion net loss in year to MarchSouth African state power utility Eskom said on Tuesday that its net loss for the financial year that ended in March had widened to 23.9 billion rand ($1.27 billion) from a revised 11.9 billion rand loss the previous year.
Read more »
South Africa: Forget Power, Eskom's Dishing Out Millions On LogosOpinion - Despite being on the brink of bankruptcy, Eskom is diving into a multi-million-rand rebranding mission.
Read more »