With the fall of the Tunisian dinar, the rise in the price of oil and the accumulation of bad debts, the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company is in a critical situation. However, its managing director Moncef Harrabi, says he has a plan to end the crisis, and denies any rumor of bankruptcy.
As it celebrates its 57th anniversary, the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (Steg) is in very fragile financial health. On February 20, on the occasion of an awareness day on the theme « Save STEG », organized by the General Federation of Electricity and Gas in Tunis, the Director General of STEG, Moncef Harrabi wished create an electric shock in public opinion to draw attention to the plight of one’s society.
Electricity, billed in 2018, 4.2 billion dinars, does not cover the energy costs of the company estimated at 4.3 billion dinars. In one year, these expenses jumped 1.4 billion dinars due to the surge in the price of a barrel of oil (from $ 54 in 2017 to $ 70 in 2018).
On the international energy market, the fall of the dinar increases the purchase price of natural gas (essential for the production of electricity). « A dollar increase in the price of a barrel costs us an additional 50 million dinars and when the dinar loses 100 millimes against the dollar, this immediately translates into an additional cost of 200 million dinars, » explains the general manager.
To meet its natural gas import expenditure, which mainly comes from neighboring Algeria (63%), STEG has accumulated 1.6 billion dinars in debt.
