COLOMBO : Former State Minister of Finance Ajith Nivard Cabraal has been appointed as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa presented Cabraal with his new appointment on Monday, President’s Media Division stated.
The new appointment will be in effect from Wednesday (September 15).
Cabraal succeeds Prof. W.D. Lakshman, who resigns today after less than two years on the job.
Ajith Nivard Cabraal submitted his resignation from his parliamentary seat this morning. Former MP Jayantha Ketagoda has been named to replace Cabraal.
Cabraal, a veteran Chartered Accountant, has previously served as the Governor of CBSL from 2006 to 2016.
It will be the third term as Governor for Cabraal, having previously served for nine years from 1 July 2006 until his resignation on 9 January 2015.
Cabraal was appointed as a National List MP from the SLPP after last August’s General Election.
Cabraal was the first Chartered Accountant to hold the position of a Minister in Sri Lanka. He was also a Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and also held the positions of President of the South Asian Federation of Accountants.
As an accountancy student in Colombo, Cabraal met current Prime Minister and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as he was concurrently studying law at Sri Lanka Law College. In 2000, he gained an Eisenhower Fellowship.
Cabraal was Chief Economic Advisor to Mahinda Rajapaksa during the latter’s term as Prime Minister, contributing to his manifesto – ‘Mahinda Chintana’. In 2005, Cabraal resigned from all his private positions to work full-time for the Government. In February 2006, Cabraal was involved in talks with the Tamil Tigers in Geneva. Cabraal was also the Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation during the first term of then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
