Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2019-09-03

Proposal to invest in equity of the Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) through the State Owned Enterprises and Captive Funds enabling SLT to comply with the Minimum Public Float Requirement of 10% imposed by the Colombo Stock Exchange thereby strengthening the Government of Sri Lanka's stake in SLT

- The Sri Lanka Telecom (PLC) is the leading telecommunication services provider in the country, with the Government of Sri Lanka controlling 52.92% of the shareholding where 2.1% is held by the general public. According to a new rule introduced in the year 2013 by the Sri Lanka Securities and Exchange Commission for the listed companies to enable the Sri Lanka Telecom to fulfill the requirement of maintaining 'public free float' of minimum of 10% of their share capital by the Sri Lanka Telecom, the joint proposal made by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Telecommunication, Foreign Employment and Sports, to instruct the State owned enterprises such as the Employees' Provident Fund, the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd., the National Savings Bank, the Bank of Ceylon, Employees' Trust Fund and the Peoples' Bank to invest in the Sri Lanka Telecom share capital subject to the approval of the respective Boards of Director, was approved by the Cabinet.