Sri Lankan government to sell Sri Lankan Airlines as the money runs out.

Authorities in Sri Lanka have confirmed they will sell off the 49% stake the government holds in loss-making SriLankan Airlines as the country runs out of money. 

The government on Monday said it will sell 49% of SriLankan Airlines' catering and ground-handling units as it can no longer afford to pump any money into the airline.  It hopes that it will be able to retain  51% of those departments. 

"This restructuring is essential as the government can no longer afford to inject money into running the airline," Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said on Monday.   "Annually the government has been providing the airline between USD 80 billion to USD 200 billion to run its operations," 

According to the minister, the carrier's debts were currently running at USD $1.226 billion and was one of more than 190 state-owned enterprises that are either in debt or making vast losses.