Ajith Cabraal

Ajith Nivard Cabraal
Born	(1954-12-14) December 14, 1954 Tangalle, Sri Lanka
Occupation(s)	Accountant, politician
Known for	Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms

Ajith Nivard Cabraal () (born 14 December 1954) is a Sri Lankan accountant and politician who served as the 16th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He also held the position of State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms, and was a National List Member of Parliament from 2020 to 2021. Cabraal first served as Central Bank Governor from 1 July 2006 until his resignation on 9 January 2015. He was reappointed in September 2021, replacing W. D. Lakshman, before resigning again in April 2022 amid the country's economic crisis.

Early life and education

Born in Tangalle to Dr Leslie Cabraal, a medical practitioner, and Trixie Cabraal, he had four siblings. Cabraal was educated at St. Peter's College, Colombo and qualified as a Chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

Private sector career

Cabraal began as an accountant and founded Cabraal Consulting Group, specializing in corporate governance, strategic planning, mediation, and turnaround management. In 2000, he received an Eisenhower Fellowship.

Western provincial council

He entered politics with the United National Party, winning a seat in the 1999 provincial council elections for the Western Province, Sri Lanka, serving until 2004.

Chief economic advisor

Cabraal became a close advisor to Mahinda Rajapaksa after meeting during their studies. Following Rajapaksa's appointment as Prime Minister in 2004, Cabraal was named chief economic advisor. In 2005, he left the private sector to serve as Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation. In February 2006, he participated in talks with the Tamil Tigers in Geneva.

Cabraal also served as president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and led the South Asian Federation of Accountants.

Governor of the Central Bank – first term

On 1 July 2006, Cabraal was appointed governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka by President Rajapaksa for four years, with a six-year extension from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2016. During his tenure, he also served as Alternate Governor of the International Monetary Fund, Chairman of the South East Asian Central Banks Research and Training Centre (SEACEN) Board of Governors, and Chairman of the SAARC Central Bank Governors Forum. Following the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election, he resigned on 9 January 2015 to allow the new president to appoint a successor. His first term faced criticism due to financial losses from investments in Greek sovereign bonds, which led to accusations of misappropriation.

From December 2019 to August 2020, Cabraal acted as senior advisor to the prime minister on economic affairs and was appointed a board member of the "Api Wenuwen Api" fund under the Ministry of Defence on 21 January 2020.

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State Minister for Finance, Capital Markets, and State Enterprise Reform

Following the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, Cabraal secured a seat in Parliament through the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna's national list. In August 2020, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed him as the State Minister responsible for Finance, Capital Markets, and State Enterprise Reforms, working under the direction of Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Additionally, he served on the Committee On Public Enterprises (Sri Lanka) and participated in the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Finance. On 13 September 2020, Cabraal stepped down from both his parliamentary position and state minister role to return as governor of the central bank.

Second Tenure as Governor of the Central Bank

Cabraal commenced his second term as Central Bank governor on 15 September 2021 amid Sri Lanka’s escalating debt crisis. His appointment was accompanied by cabinet rank status, which increased his political standing. Throughout this period, the Central Bank engaged in substantial currency issuance to fund government expenditures and mitigate the economic emergency, including a reportedly large-scale printing of Rs. 22.27 billion overnight on 14 March 2022.

He resisted calls for an IMF bailout, advocating instead for resolving the debt crisis through internal measures. Despite exhausting foreign exchange reserves and gold assets to stabilize the Sri Lankan Rupee and meet sovereign bond obligations, the Central Bank permitted the currency to float freely in early March 2022. This decision triggered a swift 30% decline in the Rupee’s value amid severe shortages of essential commodities such as fuel, food, and medicine.

Under increasing pressure from worsening economic conditions and widespread public protests, Cabraal resigned from his governorship on 4 April 2022.

Economic Mismanagement Conviction

On 7 April 2022, the Colombo Magistrate Court issued a travel ban restricting Cabraal from leaving Sri Lanka until 18 April 2022. This action followed a complaint lodged by political activist Keerthi Tennakoon accusing him of misappropriating and improperly using public funds that exacerbated the nation's financial crisis.

On 14 November 2023, Cabraal, along with the Rajapaksa brothers and other senior officials, was found liable by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The court determined that they violated constitutional protections under Article 12(1), which guarantees equal protection under the law. This ruling arose from a petition submitted by Transparency International Sri Lanka and allied activists holding them accountable for economic mismanagement during the period from 2019 to 2022.