The Sri Lankan government is launching a new search for an equity partner after the IMF warned the loss-making airline was dragging down the country's economy.
Sri Lanka's national carrier is once again looking for a white knight investor to inject fresh capital and rescue it from a near-death experience.
The Sri Lankan government is launching a new search for an equity partner after the IMF warned the loss-making airline was dragging down the country's economy.
"We hope a deal can be concluded in the first quarter of next year," a treasury official said.
Earlier attempts to privatise the carrier failed when San Francisco-based private equity firm TPG withdrew its bid for a 49% stake in Sri Lankan.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which bailed out the government with a US$1.5-billion loan in June 2016, has warned that restructuring Sri Lankan airlines was essential to sustain economic growth.
The flag carrier has debts and losses estimated at more than US$2 billion.
The new search for an investor comes as a Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Sri Lankan Airlines has reconvened in Colombo amid allegations of corruption and mis-management by previous officials of the airline.