Sri Lanka’s new government led by ruling National People’s Power (NPP) is in discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the restructuring of state owned enterprises (SOE) and it will not opt for privatization as the first option, Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said.
Soon after the election of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, his interim government said it would not privatize state-owned national carrier SriLankan Airlines. Later, it said a decision would be taken after the November 14 parliamentary election.
It is not clear what will be done with SriLankan which also has a defaulted bond and other loans. The last administration was also planning the privatize several state ventures which were hit by procedural delays.
“The last government appointed a committee to look into restructuring which was only meant for selling the assets,” Jayatissa, also the Minister of Mass Media and Health told reporters on Tuesday (31) at the weekly post-cabinet media briefing.
