Highest  State owned enterprises (SOE) losses in 2020
Posted on April 4th, 2023

Courtesy The Morning

  • 450 SOEs incur Rs. 2,894 bn losses during 2012-2022
  • Sectoral regulatory agency mooted for SOEs: Siyambalapitiya

A total of 450 State owned enterprises (SOEs) have incurred a loss of Rs. 2,894 billion (bn) between the years of 2012 and 2022, with the highest being recorded in 2020, according to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday (4), State Minister of Finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya presented figures related to the loss incurred by 450 SOEs between 2012 and 2022. According to him, the relevant SOEs have incurred a loss of Rs. 183 billion in 2012, Rs. 186 billion each in 2013 and 2014, Rs. 271 billion in 2015, Rs. 180 billion in 2016, Rs. 260 billion in 2017, Rs. 265 billion in 2018, Rs. 268 billion in 2019, Rs. 436 billion in 2020, Rs. 337 billion in 2021 and Rs. 322 billion in 2022.

Meanwhile, commenting on the Government’s programme of restructuring SOEs, Siyambalapitiya stated that the relevant process is being carried out by a local Company named Public Enterprise Holding Company Limited without any political interference. “The Company is under the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ministry. It is formally administered under the Companies Act, No. 07 of 2007, with a professional board of directors, and is similar to the Malaysian and Singaporean models,” he said. Speaking further, he said that apart from restructuring the SOEs, the privatisation of loss making State owned institutions and placing them under public-private ownership has also been proposed among the methods adopted to increase Government revenue. He said that the restructuring will be regulated and that separate regulatory agencies will be established for each sector.

When President and Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, came to power, he said that the Government would embark on a process of implementing structural reforms with regard to SOEs to accelerate their growth so that the country could emerge from the current economic crisis. The SOE sector, which for many years is said to have been a severe burden on the Sri Lankan economy, has been identified for reforms on a priority basis.

The Cabinet of Ministers’ approval had also been granted recently for the divestiture of several SOEs including SriLankan Airlines Ltd., Sri Lankan Catering Ltd., Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd., Canwill Holdings Private Ltd. (Grand Hyatt Colombo), Hotel Developers Lanka Ltd. (Hilton Hotel Colombo), Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. including Litro Gas Terminals (Pvt.) Ltd. and the Lanka Hospital Corporation PLC.

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