SriLankan owes BoC Rs. 29 billion
The ailing SriLankan Airlines has paid the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) over Rs 4.25 billion and around USD 5.8 million, till 31 January 2018, for the outstanding loans since December 2014, it was revealed at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on irregularities at SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering and Mihin Lanka yesterday.
Appearing before the PCoI, Upul Kumara Dias, Manager Offshore Branch of the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) said that SriLankan Airlines had paid those sums as interest on three rupee loans to the tune of Rs. 12.9 billion and three dollar loans amounting to USD 100 million.
Dias also agreed those were large sums, but the loans had not been paid back and the airline was only paying interest to the bank. “If we had these funds we could have given them as loans under new terms and conditions. When institutions don’t pay back the loans they have taken, we can’t issue new loans. That’s why we have been trying to get the airline and the Treasury, which has issued treasury comfort letters as securities, to pay back the loan in cash without going for a restructuring of the loan.”
He said that the BoC and the People’s Bank had been requested by the government to prop up the ailing airline until the government finalised a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Since both SriLankan and BoC were government owned institutions, they had also asked the government to provide them with the report, drafted by the PPP committee to decide what they should do in the future. There had been no response, he added.
(Source: The Island – By Rathindra Kuruwita)
Latest Headlines in Sri Lanka
- Ranil urges voters to choose experienced leaders to tackle economic crisis October 17, 2024
- Keheliya Rambukwella Primary School renamed Kundasale Royal Primary School October 17, 2024
- Tourist arrivals surpass 63,000 in early October amid seasonal slowdown October 17, 2024
- Sri Lankan President calls for national plan to revitalize agriculture October 16, 2024
- U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung calls on Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Sampath Thuyacontha October 16, 2024
Cut down all unnecessary expenses/benefits to all managers working in overseas.
When they can get the similar facility cheaper they get highest features from the tax payers money.
Srilankan can reduce much more costs by chopping those unnecessary exp.
Ex; Luxury condominiums, luxury vehicles, luxury schools for their kids, unlimited fuel, entertainment fees, free flights
Recently we have seen Malaysian airlines had similar issues. They faced to it very carefully and now started profiting. Unnecessary staff removed, unnecessary expenses removed. No free flights, no overseas offices etc….
Learn from others.
You can provide alternative jobs/opportunities to those excess staff and reduce burdens.