Govt guaranteed billions in loans for Air Namibia

GOVERNMENT gave N$3,7 billion in financial guarantees to mainly State-Owned Enterprises and bought shares to the tune of N$3,7 billion in to them, during the 2006-07 financial year.

Of this, the lion’s share went to Air Namibia, the recently released Auditor General’s report shows.•Guarantees to Air Namibia for loans given by Namibian banks came to N$371 million•Guarantees given to two foreign institutions for Air Namibia totalled N$914,3 million, bringing loan guarantees for the troubled national carrier to N$1,28 billion. •Government further spent N$1,54 billion from the State Revenue Fund to buy shares in the airline Added together, the loan guarantees of N$1,28 billion and the N$1,54 billion for shares amount to N$2,82 billion for Air Namibia. On top of that, Government allocated N$153,4 million to Air Namibia for its operational budget in the 2006-07 financial year. The nominal value of the Air Namibia shares came to N$100.Other recipients of generous bailouts in the form of shares bought by Government were, among others:•NamWater – N$959 million•TransNamib – N$226,4 million•NamPost – N$154,5 million. AgriBank received a guarantee from the State to enable 576 affirmative action loans to buy farms. The report also noted that the Road Fund Administration’s loan stock trust was given a State guarantee worth N$680 million.