Fund unconcerned about Sanral debt

A toll gate on the N1 North just before the Beyers Naude offramp in Gauteng. Photo: Dumisani Sibeko

A toll gate on the N1 North just before the Beyers Naude offramp in Gauteng. Photo: Dumisani Sibeko

Published May 3, 2012

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The Government Employees Pension Fund, which holds 50 percent of the Sanral's issued debt, is not unduly concerned about the agency's potential debt-servicing difficulties, Business Day reported on Thursday.

On April 28, the SA National Roads Agency Limited's plans to introduce e-tolling were halted by a last-minute court ruling.

According to the fund's acting principal officer John Oliphant, although the fund held R15 billion in Sanral bonds, this represented only 1.5 percent of its total assets.

Oliphant, with other senior executives, was briefing Parliament's portfolio committee on finance on Monday.

The bond market had hardly responded to the e-toll ruling, the daily reported.

Leon Myburgh, Citi’s sub-Saharan Africa strategist, told Business Day: “I don’t think the market is paying too much attention. Because there is a government guarantee, I think the market looks at it and says, ‘If Sanral doesn’t pay up, government will.’ “ – Sapa

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