South Africa’s R11-billion loan from the World Bank will come at lending rate of 0.8%, a rate Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana told MPs on Tuesday was 300 basis points – or 3 percentage points – below what it would cost the country to raise dollars in the market. Fin24 reports that the loan, which is intended for general budget support and not earmarked for any specific project or budget item, must be repaid within 10 years, with no debt repayments necessary for the first three years. There were also no conditions attached, Godngwana said, explaining that it had been awarded on the basis of the country’s fiscal response to the Covid-19 pandemic and aspirations to build a more inclusive economy through structural reforms.
