.The Sri Lankan government has formed a committee to comprehensively review all non-commercial State statutory institutions in the country, with a view to strengthening public service delivery and addressing inherent inefficiencies.
The committee, headed by the Secretary to the Prime Minister, would study institutions regulating sectors such as finance, trade, and the environment, for better efficiency and to facilitate an enabling environment for private sector growth.
This review forms part of the broader efforts of government in modernising and streamlining all public institutions as a way of lessening fiscal burden on the taxpayer.
Inefficient institutions have turned to be one of the major drain to the public resources, thus leading to fiscal deficit which increase pressure on the national budget, a finance ministry report revealed.
Some of the strategies put forward by the government include eliminating inefficiencies, restructuring overlapping agencies, and generating revenue through user fees where appropriate-for example, licensing or service charges.
Other measures have included the carrying out of performance audits, consolidating institutions to reduce redundancy, and transforming loss-making entities into viable operating models, particularly under PPP arrangements.
Cabinet has granted approval to the Review of SOEs with Non-Commercial Interests and has elaborated that it is essential to implement reforms in these institutions.
The Committee will provide proposals aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and adequacy of these institutions in improvement methods that are practical in nature.
Minister Nalinda Jayatissa, Spokesman for Cabinet stated that the Public Service infrastructure currently consists of 86 Departments, 25 District Secretariats, 339 Divisional Secretariats, 340 SOEs, and 115 non-commercial State statutory institutions.
These are organizations of high importance in national security, market regulation, social welfare, and disaster management.
For the year 2024, the National Budget has allocated an amount of Rs. 140 billion to these non-commercial institutions that fall under the Department of National Budget and the Department of Public Enterprises.
The review came about because of concerns on the outdated institutional structures, confusing mandates, and inefficiencies that the private sector entities perform with greater efficiency.
Certain institutions also lack adequate authority or fail to meet modern needs, adding to the strain on resources.
Presently, it contains 527 state-owned enterprises, of which 55 are grouped as “strategically important,” employing the largest number in the public sector. This inefficiency shows that it should go for serious review, and this public sector becomes more efficient, and the taxpayers’ money is utilised in a better way.
