Decoded: Sri Lanka's Delayed State Restructuring

As Budget 2027 approaches, the government’s 2026 budget proposals on state owned institutions remain unmet. This is similar to proposals by successive governments on the reform and restructuring of state-owned institutions since the 2022 economic crisis.

In November 2025, budget 2026 proposed;

• The closure of 33 state-owned institutions that perform no commercial, regulatory or administrative functions,

• Reorganisation of 21 state owned institutions,

• Merging of 14 research-based institutions,

• Conversion of 9 institutions to be financially independent, and

• Liquidation of 13 institutions which were redundant.

  
  

Budget 2026 further proposed that the bill to establish a holding company to take ownership of the commercially oriented state-owned institutions - The Public Commercial Business Management Act - would be presented to Parliament in the first quarter of 2026. To date, this bill has not been presented to Parliament nor for consultations.

Refer the news article we decoded here: https://www.newswire.lk/2026/10/23/government-moves-to-shut-down-or-merge-34-state-institutions/