Direction of SOEs

STATE-OWNED Enterprises (SOE) have posted overall profits amounting to Rs. 227.8 billion during the first half of this year, representing a decline from Rs. 280.7 billion a year earlier, according to the Mid-Year Fiscal Position Report 2025. The latest disclosure is contradictory to the impression the Government and some of its ministers have been trying to convey that SOEs are generating higher profits than in the past.

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The NPP in the run up to the election last year convinced the electorate that they were capable of turning around the performance of State commercial entities by getting rid of waste and corruption. Throughout the history, the NPP as well as its ideological parent the JVP have staunchly opposed privatisation of Government-owned business undertakings. Captivated by the Leftist political movement's anti-privatisation stance, employees and trade unionists in the SOEs were at the forefront of supporting the NPP dispensation.

However, since gaining power, mixed signals have been communicated by the administration with regard to the continuity of SOEs under State ownership. The prominent NPP politician and Minister of Agriculture K.D. Lalkantha has been advocating seemingly pro-privatisation views in the recent past, while others like Deputy Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship and Development Chathuranga Abeysinghe have emphasised the importance of reviving loss-making state enterprises through sound strategic planning, correct leadership, apart from improving systems of governance. Hence, there is confusion about the Government's chosen path.