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Govt. exhausted staggering Rs.367bn on SOEs in 2021: Siyambalapitiya

12 Dec 2022 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}      

  • Says it is on par with expenditure on education and health
  • Says govt. exhausted nearly Rs.2tn on 430 SOEs during 2017-2021 


The government had exhausted a staggering Rs.367 billion in public funds to maintain 430 State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) in 2021, which is on par with expenditure on education and health.
State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya highlighted that Rs.367 billion expenditure in 2021 on 430 SOEs was almost on par with educational and health expenditure in 2021. For the year, the public education and health expenditure stood at Rs.445 billion and Rs.375 billion respectively. 
According to Siyambalapitiya, the government spent nearly Rs.2 trillion for maintaining the 430 SOEs during 2017-2021 period.


Meanwhile, he stressed that SOE restructuring proposed in the Budget 2023 doesn’t mean selling national assets to foreigners.  In contrast, he said that the government plans to restructure SOEs by pursuing a combination of methods, which could be from splitting or amalgamating of these entities to divesting 49 percent stake in some of the entities. 
With the restructuring of SOEs, the government is expecting them to become profitable and tax-paying entities instead of continuing as a burden to taxpayers. 

However, he assured that SOE restructuring would be implemented in a transparent manner with a suitable regulatory mechanism in place while safeguarding jobs of employees and with no risk on national security.