Sri Lanka’s national carrier will be unable to repay a $1 billion debt said Ranil Wickremesinghe, raising the possibility that the government will have to shoulder the losses made by the airline.
Though state enterprise development minister Kabir Hashim had put the government-run airlines debt at $933 million, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday that the actual figure could be higher.
"The minister says the actual debt is likely to be much more than what we initially feared," Mr Wickremesinghe told parliament.
"SriLankan Airlines will not be able to repay this debt,” he said, adding “in the next month or six months we will have to take a decision what to do about the debts”.
“Whether government is to take over them or what is the decision we will inform this house," he continued.
Deputy Minister Eran Wickremaratne also said the airline had “made colossal losses”.
“Its losses are bigger than the spending on health or education," he continued, saying “there are more debts than assets behind those aircraft”.
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