The Ministry of Trade has reportedly decided to close down the state owned retail network ‘Sathosa’ and hand over its assets to the ministry, due to continuous losses over several years.

Minister of Trade – Nalin Fernando has said that a final decision on whether Sathosa will be liquidated will be taken after discussions with the Ministry of Finance.

He added that if it is decided to liquidate Sathosa, a decision regarding the chain’s staff will have to be taken after discussing with the Labour Ministry.

The minister has also said that much of the losses are from the transport division and from the buildings of the chain. A similar decision was set to be executed in 2005, but was halted due to the stiff opposition raised by the Sathosa staff.