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Deshamanya 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]
Indrajit Coomaraswamy | |
|---|---|
| இந்திரஜித் குமாரசுவாமி ඉන්ද්රජිත් කුමාරස්වාමි | |
| Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka | |
| In office 2 July 2016 – 20 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Arjuna Mahendran |
| Succeeded by | W. D. Lakshman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 April 1950 Colombo, Ceylon |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan/British |
| Spouse | Tara de Fonseka |
| Children | Imran, Arjun |
| Parent(s) | Rajendra Coomaraswamy (father) Wijeyamani (mother) |
| Relatives | Radhika Coomaraswamy (sister) |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | |
| Profession | Economist |
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.
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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]
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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]
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