South Africa News

Cabinet must speed up the process for new airline – Finance Minister Tito Mboweni

Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni says the intention behind his latest tweet on South African Airways (SAA) is to get Cabinet to speed up the process of a new airline.

The minister was speaking during an interview with Bloomberg
Mboweni has questioned whether the country needs the national carrier. This comes less than a month after agreeing to find the cash for a R10-billion bailout.

Mboweni suggests creating an airline partly owned by government as well as the private sector. And we should move with speed,” he said.

“We should create an airline that is privately and publicly, owned, issue the number of shares and let people subscribe.

Tito Mboweni

He’s told Bloomberg that a restructured airline with equity partners must be concluded soon. Mboweni has also flagged a potential sovereign debt crisis in the country.

His remarks to Bloomberg come after the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) warned that the country’s stability is at risk if government’s consolidation efforts are unsuccessful.

The bank says the deep ties that bind the country’s banks and insurers to the government is a key risk. Mboweni says the government has to curb the public sector wage bill which is weighing heavily on the debt.

He’s previously raised the alarm on government’s limited capacity to act as a backstop in the event of financial sector distress.

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Source: eNCA