Sale of unlisted assets might reasonably raise R164bn — given the requisite political will, write Rory Ord and Nimalan Reddy ONCE again, in the mid-term budget statement, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said state assets would be sold to "not let the budget deficit and borrowings creep up".But what are these assets worth? Our calculations of the values of certain state-owned entities found the sale of these unlisted assets might reasonably raise R164bn — given the requisite political will.One group of assets that has been overlooked by many market commentators is the state’s unlisted investment portfolio.The Department of Public Enterprises disclosed ownership of more than 130 companies, agency bodies and trusts last year. These present a previously untapped pool of resources the government may consider selling to help bridge its funding shortfall.Since these assets are unlisted, it is not immediately clear how much cash could be raised through their sale. In order to better understa...

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