(Adds details, quote)
By Agnieszka Flak
JOHANNESBURG Feb 20 (Reuters) – South African
logistics group Transnet will borrow 100 billion rand
($12.93 billion) over the next seven years to pay for a 300
billion rand infrastructure programme, its chief executive said
on Monday.
The spending plan was heavily promoted in President Jacob
Zuma’s “State of the Nation” policy address this month, with
government officials saying it will help create jobs and
increase the country’s competitiveness.
State-owned Transnet, which moves commodities such as coal,
iron ore and fuel, is looking to nearly triple its capital
expenditure from its original plan of around 110 billion rand to
build and expand infrastructure in Africa’s biggest economy.
Bottlenecks at ports and rail lines run by Transet have
slowed exports and economic growth.
“We will only need to borrow around 100 billion rand by
issuing bonds, domestic and international, bilateral loans,”
Brian Molefe said.
He did not say when the bonds would be issued, with debt
problems in Europe making projections difficult.
He did not foresee any problems in attracting interest for
the bonds and was confident the company would find the money to
pay for the rest of the expenditure from its own balance sheet.
Details of the new capital programme will be announced in
the coming weeks, but Molefe indicated that 55 percent of that
would be spent on new projects. The remainder would go for
maintenance of existing infrastructure.
$1 = 7.7360 South African rand)
(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Jon Herskovitz)
© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
