Sri Lanka PM wants to privatize SriLankan Airlines

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he proposed to privatize SriLankan Airlnes, which had made large losses after ex-Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa removed Emirates as its managing shareholder.

“I propose that the loss making Sri Lankan Airlines be privatized,” Wickremesinghe said in a national address.

“In the 20/21 year alone its loss was 45 billion rupees. By 2021 March 31 its total losses were 372 billion rupees.

“Even if we privatize it we have to bear the loss,” he said. “You should note that this loss has to be borne by the poorest of the poor who has not set foot in an aircraft.”

Wickremesinghe was unable to privatize SriLanka in an administration he ran from 2015 to 2019. (Colombo/May19/2022)