SriLankan Airlines, Hilton Colombo, SLT to be restructured

The Government is to restructure SriLankan Airlines, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), Colombo Hilton, Waters Edge and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, along with its subsidiaries.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament today that the urgency of restructuring the most fiscally significant State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) was reiterated several times during the last 6 months.

As committed to in the Interim Budget, a Unit has now been established at the Ministry of Finance with the specific task of restructuring SOEs.

The President said that initially, measures will be taken to restructure SriLankan Airlines, Sri Lanka Telecom, Colombo Hilton, Waters Edge and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) along with its subsidiaries, the proceeds of which will be used to strengthen both the foreign exchange reserves of the country, and the Rupee.

He said the strategic interventions will be made to SoEs with the anticipation of achieving economies of scale and other benefits.

“Therefore, I propose to line up the similar nature of businesses by way of backward, forward or horizontal integration,” the President said during his speech while presenting the 2023 budget.

The President also said that the annual loss of 52 major SoEs is Rs. 86 billion. He hopes to table the lists of institutions in Parliament in two or three days. (Colombo Gazette)