Cabinet nod for placing SOEs under holding company to fast-track restructuring

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Cabinet had approved a proposal to establish a holding company which will include all State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) that are to be restructured, Cabinet Spokesman, Minister Bandula Gunawardane said yesterday, addressing the post-Cabinet press briefing.

The proposal was presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, he said.

This holding company will be fully owned by the Treasury and will fast-track restructuring of SOEs, Minister Gunawardane said.

“We know that most SOEs are making huge losses and the burden of maintaining these ultimately falls on the taxpayer. This can’t go on. Whether we like it or not the state can’t continue to run these businesses,” he said.

Minister Gunawardane said that in 2022, President Wickremesinghe established a State-Owned Enterprise Restructuring Unit (SOERU) to restructure SOEs and allocated 200 million rupees to implement the proposal.

The SOERU has studied 60 key SOEs and has come up with a number of recommendations, the Cabinet Spokesman said.

“The new holding company will be established to carry out restructuring rapidly and efficiently.