Indrajit Coomaraswamy
இந்திரஜித் குமாரசுவாமி
ඉන්ද්‍රජිත් කුමාරස්වාමි
Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
In office
2 July 2016 – 20 December 2019
Preceded byArjuna Mahendran
Succeeded byW. D. Lakshman
Personal details
Born (1950-04-03) 3 April 1950
Colombo, Ceylon
NationalitySri Lankan/British
SpouseTara de Fonseka
ChildrenImran, Arjun
Parent(s)Rajendra Coomaraswamy (father)
Wijeyamani (mother)
RelativesRadhika Coomaraswamy (sister)
Alma mater
Occupation
ProfessionEconomist

Indrajit Coomaraswamy (Tamil: இந்திரஜித் குமாரசுவாமி, Sinhala: ඉන්ද්‍රජිත් කුමාරස්වාමි; born 3 April 1950) is a Sri Lankan economist. He served as the 14th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.[1][2]

Early life and family

Coomaraswamy was born on 3 April 1950 in Colombo, Ceylon.[3][4] He was the son of civil servant Rajendra Coomaraswamy (Roving Raju) and Wijeyamani.[5][6][7] His paternal grandfather C. Coomaraswamy was a civil servant and his maternal grandfather S. K. Wijeyaratnam was chairman of Negombo Urban Council.[5][7][8] He has one sister, Radhika.[5][6] Coomaraswamy was educated at Royal College, Colombo and at Harrow School in England.[7][9][10] He was captain of Royal's primary cricket team.[8] He was captain of Harrow's cricket team from 1967 to 1968 and also played rugby for the school for three years.[4][11]

After school he went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, from where he received BA (Hons) and MA degrees.[7][9][12] He played two matches of first-class cricket for Cambridge University Cricket Club, one in 1971 and one in 1972.[3][13] He then proceeded to the University of Sussex from where he obtained a DPhil degree.[7][9][12]

Coomaraswamy is married to Tara de Fonseka.[13] They have two sons – Imran and Arjun.[13] Coomaraswamy is a Sri Lankan Tamil.

Career

Coomaraswamy joined the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in 1973, working as a staff officer in its Economic Research, Statistics and Bank Supervision divisions until 1989.[7][9][13][14] He was seconded to the Ministry of Finance and Planning between 1981 and 1989 to provide advice on macroeconomic issues and structural reforms.[7][9][13][14][15] He worked at the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1990 to 2008, holding various posts including Chief Officer, Economics in the International Finance and Markets Section; Director of the Economic Affairs Division; and Deputy-Director of the Secretary-General's Office.[7][9][13][14] He was an advisor to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Project Minister of Economic Reforms, Science and Technology Milinda Moragoda between 2001 and 2002.[15]

Coomaraswamy rejoined the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2010 as Interim Director of its Social Transformation Programme Division.[7][9][13][14] He was special advisor to the controversial Galleon Group hedge fund.[14] He was director of a British company called Galleon Research Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Galleon International Management LLC.[16][17] He was appointed as a non-executive director of John Keells Holdings PLC in February 2011.[13][18] He was appointed as a director of Tokyo Cement Group in March 2011.[13][15][19] He worked briefly for Hatton National Bank and was a director of SEEDS (Guarantee) Limited.[12][15][20] He was a member of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura's Board of Study (Public Administration) and a director of Nawaloka College of Higher Studies.[21][22] He was later a senior advisor to Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama.[23][24]

Coomaraswamy was appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in July 2016, replacing Arjuna Mahendran whose tenure was mired by allegations of corruption.[10][25][26] He resigned from the position in December 2019.[27]

Sports career

Coomaraswamy played rugby for Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club and captained the national team in the 1974 Rugby Asiad.[8][11][13] He also played cricket for the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club.[8][11][13]

References

  1. ↑ Ondaatjie, Anusha (2 July 2016). "Sri Lanka Names Economist Coomaraswamy as Central Bank Chief". Bloomberg Markets.
  2. ↑ "Dr. Coomaraswamy new Central Bank Governor". Sri Lanka Guardian. 2 July 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Indrajit Coomaraswamy". ESPNcricinfo.
  4. 1 2 "Indrajit Coomaraswamy". The Cricketer. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon (PDF). p. 43.
  6. 1 2 Weerakoon, Bradman (31 July 2005). "Remembering Raju Coomaraswamy". The Island.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Balachandran, P. K. (2 July 2016). "Coomaraswamy is compromise choice for Lankan Central Bank Governorship". The New Indian Express.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Ladduwahetty, Ravi (13 December 2012). "Dr Manmohan Singh was committed to non-interference with Asian economies". The Island.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy new Central Bank Governor". Daily News. 2 July 2016.
  10. 1 2 Ramakrishnan, T. (2 July 2016). "Indrajit Coomaraswamy new Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka". The Hindu.
  11. 1 2 3 Wijesekera, Bernie (4 September 2005). "Indrajith still a humble soul". The Sunday Times.
  12. 1 2 3 "Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy joins SEEDS Board". Daily FT. 8 December 2011.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 David, Anusha (19 March 2015). "Indrajit Coomaraswamy". life.lk.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Interview with Indrajit Coomaraswamy". Commonwealth Oral Histories. 29 June 2015.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy appointed to Tokyo Cement Board". Daily FT. 1 April 2011.
  16. ↑ "Indrajit Coomaraswamy". Companies House.
  17. ↑ "Coomaraswamy replaces Mahendran but other headaches remain". Sunday Island. 3 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "Leadership". Leadership. John Keells Group. Archived from the original on 31 December 2010.
  19. ↑ "Board of Directors". Tokyo Cement Group.
  20. ↑ "Dr Commaraswamy appointed to Tokyo Cement board". The Island. 6 April 2011.
  21. ↑ "University Administration". University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Archived from the original on 11 July 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  22. ↑ "About Us". Nawaloka College of Higher Studies.
  23. ↑ "Lessons on investment from S'pore HC". The Nation. 25 February 2016.
  24. ↑ Perera, Quintus (28 February 2016). "Resurgence in Sri Lanka's economy soon". The Sunday Times.
  25. ↑ Sirilal, Ranga; Aneez, Shihar (2 July 2016). "Sri Lanka appoints ex-central banker Coomaraswamy as new central bank chief". Reuters.
  26. ↑ "Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy appointed Central Bank Governor". news.lk. 2 July 2016.
  27. ↑ "Sri Lanka's Central Bank Governor to leave his post in December". Lanka Business Online. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.