Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy, a renowned economist, has taken over as the governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He replaces Arjun Mahendran whose 17th month tenure was clouded with allegations of insider trading in treasury bonds. Coomaraswamy has been with the central bank, finance ministry and London-based Commonwealth Secretariat. The new governor has a daunting task of restoring the credibility of the bank and also in uplifting the morale of its staff. Unlike the previous two incumbents – Amit Invar Cabal and Mahendran – who were political appointees (apart from their academic qualifications) – Coomaraswamy was selected purely on his academic achievements.
