By Skandha Gunasekara The Government owes a whopping Rs. 135 billion to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) for various services including fuel subsidies. CPC Chairman Sumith Wijesinghe told The Morning that this included debt from SriLankan Airlines. “The Government owes Rs. 135 billion to the CPC, including what is owed by Srilankan Airlines and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) which also includes the independent power plant,” he said. CPC Deputy General Manager of Finance Varuna Weerasooriya, explaining the breakdown of the government debt, revealed that SriLankan Airlines owed the lion’s share of government debt to the CPC, which is an estimated Rs. 45 billion. “The SriLankan debt dates back to 2014. In addition, the CEB debt, including the debt from the independent power station, amounts to Rs. 90 billion,” Weerasooriya said, adding that the CEB outstanding payments are from February 2019. He noted that the CPC has been receiving payments in installments. “The SriLankan Airlines debt has been blocked off as a loan and is being paid in installments. However, there has been a delay with the Covid-19 impact. The CEB too has been paying gradually,” Weerasooriya said.