Eskom's debt transfer to SA’s government credit neutral - Moody's

A Moody's sign on the 7 World Trade Center tower is photographed in New York, file. [Photo: Reuters]

JOHANNESBURG - Power utility Eskom’s request for government to take up 100 billion rand ($7 billion) of its debt could cause the country’s overall debt ratio to jump two percentage points from the current 55.8 percent, ratings agency Moody’s said on Friday.

Moody’s, the last of the top three ratings firms to still rate Pretoria’s debt at investment grade, said in a research note dated December 12 that granting Eskom’s request would have a neutral credit impact and was unlikely to accelerate the firm’s long-promised turn-around strategy.