Meet the key people in-charge of Sri Lanka’s price stability and financial system stability

In terms of the provisions of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the Governing Board (GB) of CBSL has been established as the body responsible for overseeing the administration and management of the affairs of CBSL and determination of the general policies of CBSL. In terms of the law, the appointed members of the previously existing Monetary Board of CBSL continue as the members of GB of CBSL.

Accordingly, Sanjeeva Jayawardena P.C. and A N Fonseka who were appointed members of MB with effect from 29.06.2021 and 27.07.2022, respectively, continue to be members of GB. However, Dr. Ranee Jayamaha who was a member of MB since 29.07.2020 tendered her resignation from MB with effect from 12.09.2023, and therefore is not a member of GB. Sanjeeva Jayawardena P.C., Appointed Member who continued as a member of GB tendered his resignation with effect from 05.11.2023. Accordingly, both Dr. Jayamaha and Jayawardena submitted their resignations well before the Supreme Court made its final judgement on 14.11.2023 with regard to the Fundamental Rights Case filed on Economic Crisis.

The present GB of CBSL consists of Dr. P Nandalal Weerasinghe as the Chairman of GB and the Governor of CBSL, A N Fonseka, and newly appointed members, Dr. Ravi Ratnayake (appointed on 21.09.2023), Anushka S. Wijesinha (appointed on 21.09.2023) and Vish Govindasamy (appointed on 26.10.2023).

Brief profiles of the newly appointed members are as follows:

Dr. Ravi Ratnayake was a Chief Economist for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and former Director of Trade and Investment of the United Nations. At the United Nations (UN), Dr. Ratnayake has initiated a number of regional cooperation mechanisms including the AsiaPacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), Asia-Pacific Board Secretariat Business Forum (APBF), Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Network, Asia-Pacific Network of Experts on Experts of paperless Trade (UN NExT) and assisted the member countries to revitalize the Asia-Pacific Trade and Agreement (APTA). Dr. Ratnayake had also been a Consultant to the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UN, United States Agency for International Development and Food and Agriculture Organization.

Anushka S. Wijesinha is an economist with experience in the Government, private sector and think tanks. He is the Co-founder/Director of public policy think, Centre for a Smart Future. Wijesinha has been an International Consultant for advisory projects in Mongolia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Maldives, and Iran. Until this appointment, Wijesinha was a Senior Independent Non-Executive Director at the Seylan Bank PLC and Hatton National Bank Finance PLC. He continues on the Board of Fairfirst Insurance Ltd. and Good Life X (Pvt) Ltd. Wijesinha also serves on the Council of the National Innovation Agency, the Export Development Board, and the Oversight Committee on Exports and FDI, at the Presidential Secretariat. In previous roles, he was the Chief Economist of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Research Economist at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, and Advisor to the Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade. Wijesinha was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Innovation Ecosystems and was an Asia Foundation Development Fellow at the Korea Development Institute in Seoul. .

Vish Govindasamy holds an MBA and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hartford, USA. With over 26 years at its helm, Govindasamy is the Group Managing Director of Sunshine Holdings PLC, a diversified conglomerate which is today one of Sri Lanka’s top 50 listed companies. He is a fellow member of the Institute of Certified Professional Managers of Sri Lank and is the immediate past Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Employers Federation of Ceylon.

Before his current position at Sunshine Holdings, Govindasamy was the Chief Executive Officer of the Watawala Plantations, a diversified plantation management company in partnership with TATA India. At Watawala, he is largely credited with having played an instrumental role in successfully transforming a Government owned plantation company after privatization into the highest capitalized regional plantation company to be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. He also is credited with creating the Brands Zesta, Watawala & Rankhata which are the leading tea brands in Sri Lanka today. The House of Tata’s of India has placed Mr. Govindasamy in many of their corporate Boards in Sri Lanka.

In terms of the provisions of the CBSL Act No. 16 of 2023 there shall be a Monetary Policy Board (MPB) of CBSL which is charged with the formulation of monetary policy of CBSL and implementation of a flexible exchange rate regime in line with the flexible inflation targeting framework in order to achieve and maintain domestic price stability.

Accordingly, the President has appointed Dr. (Ms.) Dushni Weerakoon and Dr. Priyanga Dunusinghe as Members of MPB of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka with effect from 21.09.2023 in terms of Section 15 of the CBSL Act with the approval of the Constitutional Council.

The above two members are the technical experts joining MPB along with members of the Governing Board and the Deputy Governors in-charge of Price Stability and Financial System Stability.

Brief profiles of the two technical experts are as follows:

Dr. Dushni Weerakoon is the Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) and Head of its Macroeconomic Policy Research. She joined the IPS in 1994 on completing her PhD, and has written and published widely on macroeconomic policy, regional trade integration and international economics.

She has extensive experience working with Policy Development Committees of the Government of Sri Lanka, including as a member of the Committee on Economic Stabilization, Recovery and Promotion of Growth and as a Director at the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), having previously served as an Appointed Member of MB of CBSL (2019-2020). She has also held positions as a Director on the Boards of corporate entities.

Dr. Priyanga Dunusinghe is a Professor in Economics in the Department of Economics, and Head – Department of Information Technology, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. He has been teaching, research, training, and consultancy experience for about 20 years. His areas of teaching are Econometrics, Statistics, Quantitative Techniques, Financial Institutions, Development Economics, and International Trade & Finance. His areas of research interest are macroeconomic policies; growth and development including agriculture, financial markets, poverty, labour, public debt, education and international trade & investment. Dr. Dunusinghe has also worked as a Consultant to the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Bank, European Union, Asian Development Bank, International Labour Organisation, UN Conference on Trade and Development and to the Government of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Labour, and Ministry of Agriculture.