ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has multiple options for reforming state owned enterprises and there was no predetermined model as at now, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Anil Jayantha Fernando said.
“We look at the restructuring. Therefore the selling off of one asset or privatization or changing the management or amalgamation, there would be a vast range of alternatives,” Fernando told an investment forum organized by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka and the Colombo Stock Exchange.
“If we believe in alternatives, we take the best course of action as I told you. We will wait and see.”
The government also did not believe in being in business just to make profits, he said. State agencies would play role in the market where it was thought to be necessary.
There was a catalyst board in the Colombo Stock Exchange which can accommodate state enterprises, SEC chief Hareendra Dissabandara said.
“So if any company, an SOE is willing to list and form a capital through the capital market in Sri Lanka, so mechanism is ready,” he said.
“So the systems are ready, rules are there. It is up to the government SOE to decide whether they use this tool as the research mechanism or something else.”
A plan to set up a state holding company for SOEs was indicated in a budget for 2025.
In an interview with Bloomberg Newswires earlier in the year, Deputy Minister Jayantha said among options was seek capital for the holding company or individual companies.
