South Africa's Eskom chairman wants lower debt for company

The chairman of South Africa's struggling power firm Eskom said on Wednesday that he would like the company's debts to be roughly 250 billion rand ($18 billion) lower than where they are now. "How much debt do we think we can service if we do the things we all want to do? It's 250 billion less than what we currently have," Mabuza told reporters at Eskom's Lethabo power station.

Eskom's balance sheet showed debts of 419 billion rand at the end of September, but they are likely to have risen substantially since then. ($1 = 14.1410 rand)