Business
R5 billion SAA guarantee staved off risk for all SOEs - Jonas─── 12:49 Tue, 20 Sep 2016
Cape Town – If South African Airways had not received a R5 billion going concern guarantee, it would have posed a systemic risk to all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in South Africa, Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas said on Tuesday.
Jonas, who made a few introductory remarks, was part of a delegation from National Treasury and SAA who briefed Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance on the airline’s preliminary financial statements for 2014/15.
He said SAA would have been unable to finalise their financial statements without a guarantee. “But it would have been prudent to give that kind of support without first mitigating the fiscal risk.”
Jonas pointed out that SOEs’ financial position poses a significant risk to South Africa’s fiscal position. In fact, the financial well-being of all CEOs is being taken into account when rating agencies assess South Africa’s credit risk.
Before handing over to acting CEO, Musa Zwane, Jonas said the R4.7 billion guarantee SAA received put the airline in a position to finalise sets of financial statements for both 2014/15 and 2015/16.
The 2015/16 financial statements would be finalised before the end of September this year, Jonas said.
