Speaking at a forum in Colombo on Friday (25) former SEC Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa noted that better management is important to increase the performance of loss-making state institutions and turn them into profitable entities.

"As a person who has taken over several loss-making state institutions and turned them into profit-making entities, I personally know that this can be done with proper management",  Dr. Godahewa said.

"The losses of SOEs, such as the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and SriLankan Airlines are mainly due to  mismanagement"

“I have personally studied about the Ceylon Electricity Board and SriLankan Airlines", Dr.Godahewa said.

"The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) which recorded a profit of Rs.20 billion in 2015 is currently running at a loss. This was clearly due to mismanagement by the present government. Power generation plans  that were targeted for a period of 10 years by the previous government were halted when they came into power, this brought a direct loss to the CEB."

If we look at SriLankan Airlines, they had a clear plan for the future. But the situation has changed now. they are running in losses”, Dr.Godahewa added.