John Keells Holdings Chairman Krishan Balendra

Premier Blue Chip John Keels Holdings PLC Chairman Krishan Balendra on Friday made a compelling case for listing of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) on the Colombo stock market.

Balendra’s insistence at the Daily FT-Colombo Uni. MBAA 2021 Budget Forum is despite the new Rajapaksa regime being wary over SOE listings which many have urged to boost the attractiveness of the stock market apart from liquidity.

“Incentives for developing capital markets is positive as one of the biggest issues was liquidity and the smallness of the market and encouraging more companies in the stock market will help resolve these challenges. I hope more companies will list and I also urge the Government to list some State-Owned Enterprise (SOEs), not fully but at least 10%-20%. Overall I want to complement the Government on a business friendly Budget,” JKH Chairman stressed.

He also went onto reiterate the appeal saying the Government should bolster its Budget proposals by committing to list at least one profitable SOE on the CSE.

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