Patience Rusere
JOHANNESBURG – PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has moved to assure investors that South Africa’s parastatals are on solid footing as she responded to news that a second money manager would suspend lending to the country’s state-owned companies.
“I want to assure all lenders and investors that Eskom and Transnet are credible and reliable borrowers with strong credit fundamentals as evidenced by their respective credit profiles,” Brown said in a statement.
This comes against news that the country is facing another imminent downgrade.
“Their performances over the past financial year confirm their strong governance structures including the stable Boards of Directors and Executive Committees,” adds Brown following reports that Danish Jyske Bank would block lending to Eskom, a day after Futuregrowth Asset Management’s unprecedented decision to suspend additional loans and halt negotiations on over R1.8 billion of debt finance to three different state-owned companies.
– Guardian