State-owned fixed telecommunications provider TelOne is owed $101 million by the government and parastatals.
The company’s managing director, Chipo Mtasa said that if the government pays its debts, it will be able to meet its immediate capital expenditure needs. Said Mtasa:
The issue that will really help us is the Government paying its debts to TelOne. It is an issue that continuously plays havoc with our cash-flows. Right now the total that we are being owed by Government and parastatals is RTGS$101 million.
If we got all that money in, that is actually a good RTGS fund from which we can actually use for some of our immediate capital expenditure needs. We have an outstanding $5 million project, for example, that we really need to commission. And we can also pay other obligations.
Meanwhile, the government will soon complete the assumption of TelOne’s US$383 million legacy loans after Cabinet gave the green light.