Ajith Nivard Cabraal | |
|---|---|
| අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල් அஜித் நிவர்ட் கப்ரால் | |
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| Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka | |
| In office 15 September 2021 – 4 April 2022 | |
| Preceded by | W. D. Lakshman |
| Succeeded by | Nandalal Weerasinghe |
| In office 1 July 2006 – 9 January 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Sunil Mendis |
| Succeeded by | Arjuna Mahendran |
| State Minister of Money and Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reform | |
| In office 12 August 2020 – 13 September 2021 | |
| Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation | |
| In office 1 November 2005 – 1 July 2006 | |
| Member of Parliament forNational List | |
| In office 2020–2021 | |
| Succeeded by | Jayantha Ketagoda |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1954-12-14)14 December 1954 (age 70) |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna |
| Other political affiliations | Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance United People's Freedom Alliance United National Party |
| Spouse | Roshini Cabraal |
| Residence | Colombo |
| Alma mater | St. Peter's College, Colombo |
| Profession | Chartered Accountant |
| Website | www |
Ajith Nivard Cabraal (Sinhala:අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල්) (born 14 December 1954) is a Sri Lankan accountant and politician who was also the 16th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.[1] He is also the formerState Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms and a formerNational List Member of Parliament from 2020 to 2021. He served as theGovernor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, holding the post from 1 July 2006 until his resignation on 9 January 2015.[2][3] He again became the Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka in September 2021, replacingW. D. Lakshman,[4] and resigned again in April 2022.[5][6]
Born inTangalle to Dr Leslie Cabraal, a medical practitioner and Trixie Cabraal; he had four siblings. Cabraal was educated atSt. Peter's College, Colombo, and was qualified as aChartered accountant from theInstitute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.[citation needed]
Cabraal started his career as an accountant in the private sector and established a management consulting firm called theCabraal Consulting Group specialised oncorporate governance (strategic planning, mediation) andturnarounds. In 2000, he gained anEisenhower Fellowship.[7]
He started his political career as a member of theUnited National Party when he contested theprovincial council elections in 1999 and was elected to theProvincial council of theWestern Province, a position he held until 2004.[8]
Having first metMahinda Rajapaksa, who was studying law atSri Lanka Law College when Cabraal was an accountancy student, he quickly became a close confidant Rajapaksa after the latter's appointment as Prime Minister Rajapaksa in 2004, and became his chief economic advisor.[9][2] In 2005, he left the private sector and was appointed Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation.[10][11] In February 2006, Cabraal was involved in talks with theTamil Tigers in Geneva.[10]
He was president of theInstitute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and also held the positions of President of the South Asian Federation of Accountants.[12]
On 1 July 2006, Cabraal was appointed governor of theCentral Bank of Sri Lanka by President Rajapaksa, for a period of four years. He was given an extension of six years from 1 July 2010, to 30 June 2016.[8] During his period as the Governor he also functioned as an Alternate Governor of the International Monetary Fund, the Chairman of theSouth East Asian Central Banks Research and Training Centre (SEACEN) Board of Governors, and the Chairman of the SAARC Central Bank Governors Forum.[13] Following the2015 presidential election, he resigned on 9 January 2015 so that the newPresident of Sri Lanka can appoint a newGovernor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He was accused of financial misappropriation following investment in Greek sovereign bonds which resulted in a major loss to the government during his first term.[14]
From December 2019 to August 2020, Cabraal was a senior advisor to the prime minister on economic affairs[15] and was appointed as a board member of the "Api Wenuwen Api" fund on 21 January 2020 under the Ministry of Defence.[16]
Cabraal was appointed to theParliament of Sri Lanka from thenational list of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna after the2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election. He was thereafter appointedState Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms by PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa in August 2020 serving under theMinister of FinanceMahinda Rajapaksa. He also functions as a member of theCommittee On Public Enterprises (Sri Lanka)[17] and the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Finance.[18] He resigned as state minister and member of parliament on 13 September 2020 to take the post of governor of the central bank.[19][20][21][22]
Cabraal assumed his second term as governor of the central bank 15 September 2021 at a time Sri Lanka was facing a majordebt crisis.[23][24] He requested for and gained cabinet rank as the Governor of the Central Bank.[25] During his tenure, Central Bank was engaged in printing in excess of trillions of money to finance the budget and economic crisis.[26][27][28] During his tenure, CBSL allegedly printed Rs. 22.27 billion rupees overnight on 14 March 2022.[29]
Cabraal opposed anIMF bailout in favour of a homegrown solution for the debt crisis.[30] Having depleted foreign currency reserves and gold reserves to boost the Sri Lankan Rupee and repayment of sovereign bonds, the central bank free floated of the currency in early March which saw a 30% depreciation of the Rupee against the dollar in days following major shortages of fuel, food and medicine.[31][32][33]
On 4 April 2022, he resigned from his position as CBSL governor amid thegrowing protests over economic crisis.[34]
On 7 April 2022, the Colombo Magistrate Court issued an order preventing Cabraal from leaving Sri Lanka until 18 April 2022.[35] The court order was issued on the basis of a case filed by political activist Keerthi Tennakoon against Cabraal regarding misappropriation and misuse of public funds which led to a massive economic crisis in Sri Lanka.[36]
Cabraal along with the Rajapakasha brothers and other senior officials were found guilty of economic mismanagement between 2019 and 2022 by theSupreme Court of Sri Lanka which stated on 14 November 2023 that the respondents have breached the fundamental rights to equal protection of the law in terms of Article 12(1) of the Constitution in a fundamental rights petition filed by filed by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) and other four activists.[37][38][39]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), press release of Ministry of Finance & Planning, 3 July 2006. | ||
