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South African Airline runs out of cash, pleads for bailout

South African Airline runs out of cash, pleads for bailout

South Africa

The South African Airline is on the verge of bankruptcy according to a report read in the country’s parliament. The report indicates that the airline might soon not be able to pay salaries to its workers.

The company has been running at a loss for the past seven years according to the acting chief executive Musa Zwane.

Last month, the treasury paid a loan from the Standard Chattered bank amounting to £125m after the bank had refused to extend.

The airline is now asking for £560m to recapitalize.

A team commissioned by President Jacob Zuma to review state firms last year recommended that some should be sold. Now the government has set a date, March 2018, by which to roll out a “private sector participation framework”.

South Africa’s economy entered recession for the first time since 2009 in the first quarter and is also struggling with high unemployment and credit ratings downgrades.

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