Government bodies told to advertise in State media to cover losses

• Asked to allocate 25% of advertising budgets for State media

The government has decided to make it mandatory for government and semi government institutions to allocate 25 percent of their advertising budgets to State-run media institutions so that that government doesn’t have to allocate moneys from the national budget to support these media establishments.

A proposal in this regard by the Minister of Mass Media has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.  

Accordingly, the beneficiaries of this proposal include Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, Independent Television Network of Sri Lanka and Associated Newspapers Company Limited.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet of Ministers approved funds from the General Treasury to pay employee salaries of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and Independent Television Network for a period of four months up to December.

The Cabinet Office said the incomes of these media establishments were hit by COVID-19 outbreak in 
the country.