As Sri Lanka is completing a year since the peak of the economic crisis last year, the results of some of the long-term reform measures, which the post-Aragalaya government introduced, are becoming apparent. Thanks to the reforms triggered by the economic crisis, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is no longer a loss-making state-owned Enterprise. In fact, so far this year (in the first six months), the CPC has made a staggering profit of Rs.70 billion, according to The Sunday Morning.

For an institution that remained one of the leading long term loss-making State-Owned Enterprises (SOE), this is a promising development.  It is a sign that economic downfall induced political will that triggered government-led reforms, especially those involving the policy of enacting cost-reflective pricing formulas, in reality have the potential to be successful. What this success really means to the country, however, is arguable, because the extent to which the benefits of CPC’s success would be passed on to the overall economy and the people remains to be seen.

While the CPC has started making unprecedented profits even amidst the recovery phase of the economic crisis, it has been possible only because crisis-hit consumers truly tightened their belts. The people have been extremely patient with fuel prices, which see more increases than reductions and also affect many consumer goods and services. In a context where many aspects of the economy are barely surviving, the government needs to think about sharing the CPC’s success, and other that of other SOE’s with the sectors that have not been that lucky, because at the end of the day, economic revival is a collective endeavour and a struggle each sector has to deal with individually.

There is a plethora of sectors that are on the brink of collapse or have already collapsed, due mainly to the lack of financial resources. The health sector is at the forefront of affected sectors. There are severe shortages of medicines and equipment, which have affected the government’s policy of ensuring universal healthcare services for all, and the health sector is losing experts due to the instability of the economy and in the health sector. Recently, practical issues pertaining to conducting tests, including CT Scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests have caused much distress to patients, including those who suffer from cancer. The shortcoming in the supply of nutritional supplements like Triposha caused controversy in society. In addition, the government is still looking for donations to maintain the Suwa sariya ambulance service, which has become more important in the context of the economic crisis than ever before.

The education sector is also encountering serious challenges. The prices of stationery items are skyrocketing. The provision of midday meals at selected public schools is facing severe challenges, while parents are also finding it difficult to provide a healthy meal to children. The timely completion of exams is now a difficult task, as teachers engaged in paper marking are not being paid properly. The government has been hesitant to provide adequate remuneration for teachers involved in paper–marking.

These are merely two affected sectors that need to be resuscitated immediately. Since these two sectors’ priority is providing services to the people and not making money, it is evident that the monetary resources required for their survival has to come from the people’s tax money, or the profits made by another sector through the Treasury. Since imposing more taxes on the people is not a viable option, the second option seems more practically possible.  What is necessary is the government coming up with a plan to better manage the available monetary resources, including the profits made by SOEs such as the CPC.

It must also be noted that the CPC’s success cannot be shared entirely with other sectors, since the CPC still has a long way to go in order to be truly stable and debt-free. Therefore, the government should take the responsibility of devising a well-planned strategy to utilise a portion of the CPC’s profits to stabilise the sectors that are in need of assistance in a manner that does not impact the CPC adversely. The people have been very patient about and have done their part in crisis-triggered economic reforms, and the time has come for the government to reciprocate by managing SOE’s successes in a manner that benefits the people.