COLOMBO, Sept 10, 2025 (ePRESS) – The Advocata Institute has welcomed the Cabinet’s decision to close 33 non-operational State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), in the latest phase of the government’s state-sector reform program.
The decision, proposed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his role as Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policy, will be carried out by a Special Liquidation Unit under the Ministry of Finance.
The move is seen as a first step to eliminate waste, strengthen fiscal discipline, and redirect public resources to more productive areas of the economy.
Sri Lanka has more than 400 SOEs across 33 sectors, employing nearly 250,000 people. They account for about 4.5 percent of total public debt guaranteed by the treasury. Around 130 of them run commercial operations, while the rest are statutory or non-commercial entities.
Many of these SOEs, including the now-defunct Mihin Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Lanka Cement PLC, Selendiva Investments Ltd, and Magampura Ports Management Company (Pvt) Ltd, have been weakened by political interference, poor management, and lack of transparency. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has repeatedly identified SOEs as a key fiscal and governance risk.
Advocata said the closures should be a starting point for wider reforms. It argued that state ownership should only remain in areas where there is a clear economic or strategic need—such as when markets fail to provide goods or services efficiently or when national interests must be safeguarded.
The think tank called on the government to further reduce the number of SOEs, keeping only those with strategic importance or a strong economic rationale, and to use reforms to support growth and financial stability.
