Indrajit Coomaraswamy

Indrajit Coomaraswamy
இந்திரஜித் குமாரசுவாமி
Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Assumed office
2 July 2016
Preceded by Arjuna Mahendran
Personal details
Born (1950-04-03) 3 April 1950
Colombo, Ceylon
Nationality Sri Lankan/British
Spouse(s) Tara de Fonseka
Children Imran, Arjun
Alma mater
Occupation
Profession Economist

Indrajit Coomaraswamy (Tamil: இந்திரஜித் குமாரசுவாமி; born 3 April 1950) is a Sri Lankan economist and the current Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.[1][2][3]

Early life and family

Coomaraswamy was born on 3 April 1950 in Colombo, Ceylon.[4][5] He was the son of civil servant Rajendra Coomaraswamy (Roving Raju) and Wijeyamani.[6][7][8] His paternal grandfather C. Coomaraswamy was a civil servant and his maternal grandfather S. K. Wijeyaratnam was chairman of Negombo Urban Council.[6][8][9] He has one sister, Radhika.[6][7] Coomaraswamy was educated at Royal College, Colombo and at Harrow School.[8][10][11] He was captain of Royal's primary cricket team.[9] He was captain of Harrow's cricket team from 1967 to 1968 and also played rugby for the school for three years.[5][12] After school he joined Emmanuel College, Cambridge from where he received BA (Hons) and MA degrees.[8][10][13] He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University Cricket Club between 1971 and 1972.[4][14] He then proceeded to the University of Sussex from where he obtained a DPhil degree.[8][10][13]

Coomaraswamy is married to Tara de Fonseka.[14] They have two sons - Imran and Arjun.[14] 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.[8][10][14][15] He was seconded to the Ministry of Finance and Planning between 1981 and 1989 to provide advice on macroeconomic issues and structural reforms.[8][10][14][15][16] 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.[8][10][14][15] He was an advisor to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Project Minister of Economic Reforms, Science and Technology Milinda Moragoda between 2001 and 2002.[16]

Coomaraswamy rejoined the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2010 as Interim Director of its Social Transformation Programme Division.[8][10][14][15] He was special advisor to the controversial Galleon Group hedge fund.[15] He was director of a British company called Galleon Research Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Galleon International Management LLC.[17][18] He was appointed as a non-executive director of John Keells Holdings PLC in February 2011.[14][19] He was appointed as a director of Tokyo Cement Group in March 2011.[14][16][20] He worked briefly for Hatton National Bank and was a director of SEEDS (Guarantee) Limited.[13][16][21] 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.[22][23] He was later a senior advisor to Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama.[24][25]

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.[11][26][27]

Sports career

Coomaraswamy played rugby for Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club and captained the national team in the 1974 Rugby Asiad.[9][12][14] He also played cricket for the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club.[9][12][14]

References

  1. ↑ Ondaatjie, Anusha (2 July 2016). "Sri Lanka Names Economist Coomaraswamy as Central Bank Chief". Bloomberg Markets.
  2. ↑ "Sri Lanka replaces controversial central bank chief". Mail Online. Agence France-Presse. 2 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Dr. Coomaraswamy new Central Bank Governor". Sri Lanka Guardian. 2 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Indrajit Coomaraswamy". ESPNcricinfo.
  5. 1 2 "Indrajit Coomaraswamy". The Cricketer.
  6. 1 2 3 Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon (PDF). p. 43.
  7. 1 2 Weerakoon, Bradman (31 July 2005). "Remembering Raju Coomaraswamy". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  8. 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.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Ladduwahetty, Ravi (13 December 2012). "'Dr Manmohan Singh was committed to non-interference with Asian economies'". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy new Central Bank Governor". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 2 July 2016.
  11. 1 2 Ramakrishnan, T. (2 July 2016). "Indrajit Coomaraswamy new Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka". The Hindu.
  12. 1 2 3 Wijesekera, Bernie (4 September 2005). "Indrajith still a humble soul". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  13. 1 2 3 "Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy joins SEEDS Board". Daily FT. 8 December 2011.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 David, Anusha (19 March 2015). "Indrajit Coomaraswamy". life.lk.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Interview with Indrajit Coomaraswamy". Commonwealth Oral Histories. 29 June 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy appointed to Tokyo Cement Board". Daily FT. 1 April 2011.
  17. ↑ "Indrajit Coomaraswamy". Companies House.
  18. ↑ "Coomaraswamy replaces Mahendran but other headaches remain". Sunday Island (Sri Lanka). 3 July 2016.
  19. ↑ "Leadership". John Keells Group.
  20. ↑ "Board Of Directors". Tokyo Cement Group.
  21. ↑ "Dr Commaraswamy appointed to Tokyo Cement board". The Island (Sri Lanka). 6 April 2011.
  22. ↑ "University Administration". University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
  23. ↑ "About Us". Nawaloka College of Higher Studies.
  24. ↑ "Lessons on investment from S'pore HC". The Nation (Sri Lanka). 25 February 2016.
  25. ↑ Perera, Quintus (28 February 2016). "Resurgence in Sri Lanka's economy soon". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  26. ↑ Sirilal, Ranga; Aneez, Shihar (2 July 2016). "Sri Lanka appoints ex-central banker Coomaraswamy as new central bank chief". Reuters.
  27. ↑ "Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy appointed Central Bank Governor". news.lk. 2 July 2016.
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