Meralco needs P11.5-B to pay maturing debts

Lopez-controlled Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will need some P11.5 billion to repay its maturing obligations this year.

Of this amount, P6.5 billion are short-term obligations and the remaining P5 billion are long-term.

The company was able to repay a third of its P5-billion long-term loans last April.

The P11.5 billion will cover only the principal payment and exclude the interest.

Meralco was recently able to secure an approval from its short-term lenders to suspend the payment by three months. The short-term debts are supposed to be due this July.

Within the three-month reprieve, Meralco should be able to come up with a scheme that will convert these loans to medium-term.

"Within three months, we have to get a solution to allow them (short-term creditors) to extend it or convert it to medium-term. They promised not to call on those loans if we will be able to come up with a conversion scheme," Meralco president Jesus Francisco said.