“Let us sell the companies,” DNA member Steven Reyme recently said in parliament about loss-making state-owned companies.
He noted that the state has about 160 companies under its management and that a large number of them are loss-making, forcing the state to subsidize these companies by millions every month. “It is repeatedly said that there is no money in the country, yet millions are being subsidized to state-owned companies that contribute nothing to the state treasury.”
He also expressed concern about the boards and executives of these companies, who earn thousands of US dollars but deliver nothing for the state. “This cannot continue and we need to change this system. You cannot put money into a company that does not make profits,” said the parliamentary group leader of A20.
The previous government already had plans to privatize about 30 parastatal companies and government institutions, but due to strong criticism from the opposition at the time, this decision was shelved.
Former Minister of Finance and Planning Stanley Raghoebarsing said in connection with this decision that some state-owned companies should remain under state management, while others should simply be privatized. This could reduce spending in the state budget and allow private individuals the opportunity to produce.
