PSALM planning to prepay $180-M in Napocor debt

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. is planning to prepay $180 million worth of yen-denominated loans of National Power Corp., and has sought approval from the Department of Finance and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the move. In a press conference on Wednesday, PSALM president Jose Ibazeta said the $180 million is part of the $2.46 billion Napocor debt approved by the PSALM board to be prepaid in early next year. Ibazeta said the $180 million that would be subjected to prepayment scheme of PSALM involved loan from Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund/Japan Bank for International Cooperation. He said PSALM has already notified the JBIC that it would be prepaying the loan. The PSALM chief said the prepayment would allow PSALM to take advantage of prevailing low interest rates and peso appreciation. A lower debt-level would also mean translate to lower power costs, PSALM said. “We are looking closely at the profile of Napocor’s liabilities. As much as possible we want to explore all options to trim it down if not zero out the loans especially during these times were there are opportunities like lower interest rates and the peso is appreciating," Ibazeta said. He said that if the plan pushes through, PSALM may save up to P10 on foreign exchange losses alone. - GMANews.TV