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Eskom cuts debt after repaying matured loans
- Cuts debt by 83 billion rand
South African state utility Eskom Holdings has reduced its debt profile by 83 billion Rand from 484 billion Rand. Eskom achieved this by repaying matured loans while leveraging favourable exchange rates. The Public and Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, confirmed this in a speech to lawmakers earlier today.
“The management of Eskom’s debt is one of the key priorities to return the entity onto a sustainable path”, Gordhan said. “The entity is continuing to implement its cost-reduction initiative, with a saving of 13.5 billion Rand achieved in the 2021 financial year”, he added.
Eskom has faced several challenges impacting its inability to meet the nations electricity needs. The result has been an increase in the power cuts across the country. In a bid to manage Eskom’s growing debt and operational challenges, the South African government has said it plans to split the entity into three distinct units to make it easier to manage.