Eskom secures R48.8bn for two-thirds of 2019 funding

Eskom said it’s secured about R48.8 billion  ($3.4 billion) of the funding the state-owned South African power utility requires for the financial year ending March 31.

Of the remaining R23.2 billion, or 32% of the total, R15 billion will come from structured products, Eskom said in a statement on Tuesday. A further R4.5 billion will come from domestic bonds, including R2.3 billion with a duration of less than a year. The balance will come from development finance institutions and export credit agencies, it said.

Eskom didn’t immediately respond to a request for further details of the new funding.

Eskom — which had amassed R399 billion of debt by the end of March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg — has been flagged by ratings companies as a key risk to South Africa’s economy. The cash-strapped utility sold $1.5 billion of Eurobonds earlier this month, tapping international markets for the first time in more than three years.

The utility last month signed a $2.5 billion loan agreement with China Development Bank to go toward construction of the Kusile power station.