JOHANNESBURG, Feb 23 (Reuters) – South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said on Wednesday that struggling state-owned power utility Eskom should sell some of its coal assets as part of the solution to its debt woes.
“There is a myth that no one would buy (Eskom’s coal) power stations. … There will be buyers,” he told Reuters in an interview after presenting the 2022 budget.
Godongwana added that he would like to see Eskom focus on restructuring, cost-containment measures and asset sales “before I can put my neck on the block” with a plan to address its mammoth 392 billion rand ($26 billion) debt burden.
He said he had been advised that out of that debt pile roughly 135 billion rand could be considered “distressed”.
($1 = 15.0972 rand)
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Register
Reporting by Alexander Winning and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Jan Harvey
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
