South African Airways (SAA) has been provided with emergency state funds to help it repay loans of 3 billion rand to Citibank, the Treasury said on Friday.
“Government has approved the transfer of funds from the National Revenue Fund (NRF) to SAA to allow the airline to address the debt obligations to Citibank, thereby avoiding a default,” it said in a statement.
The bailout from government’s contingency fund brings transfers to the ailing airliner to more than 5 billion rand in the last two months.