Government to Draft Revised State Assets Management Bill, Halting 2024 Draft

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to suspend further action on the previously published State Assets Management Bill and instruct the Legal Draftsman to prepare a revised draft incorporating recommendations from a technical expert committee.

The initial bill had received Cabinet approval on July 22, 2024, to be published in the Government Gazette and submitted to Parliament. However, following the dissolution of Parliament in October 2024, the bill could not be enacted into law.

To ensure the legislative framework aligns with optimal governance and management standards, a special committee comprising public officials and subject-matter experts was subsequently appointed to re-examine the proposed law. The committee identified several key amendments required to strengthen the bill and formulated an updated preliminary draft.

Following these developments, the Cabinet approved the resolution presented by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, to halt proceedings on the bill previously published in the Extraordinary Gazette on August 2, 2024. Under the new directive, the Legal Draftsman will formulate a fresh State Assets Management Bill based on the updated preliminary framework prepared by the expert committee.