Ajith Nivard Babraal is a Chartered Accountant by profession, having qualified as one of the youngest Chartered Accountants in Sri Lanka in 1977, while winning many prizes at the CA examinations.

He served as the 12th and the 16th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (a position at Cabinet rank) having assumed duties as the 16th Governor with effect from 15th September 2021 until his resignation on 4th April 2022. He took office as the Governor for the second time at the personal invitation of the President at a time of intense stress in the economy, but was able to skillfully steer the economy through such stress by negotiating several bilateral funding lines and instilling confidence amongst the many anxious stakeholders.

Prior to his second term as the Governor, he served as a Member of Parliament and as the State Minister of Money, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms from 12th August 2020 to 13th September 2021. During the period he served as an MP, he made as many as 140 interventions and speeches in Parliament, while as a Minister, he steered the new Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act and the new Securities and Exchange Commission Act in Parliament.

Before being an MP and Minister, he was the Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs from November 2019 to August 2020, while he also functioned as an elected Member of the Western Provincial Council from 2000 to 2005.

From July 2006 to January 2015, when serving as the 12th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, he functioned as an Alternate Governor of the International Monetary Fund. In addition, he served as Chairman of the South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) Board of Governors, and Chairman of the SAARC Central Bank Governors Forum, in certain years.

During the period he served as the 12th Governor, Cabraal played a major role in transforming the Sri Lankan economy from a GDP of USD 24 billion to USD 79 billion, and to being a safe, stable and fast-growing middle-income emerging market nation. At the same time, he provided leadership to several heavily over-subscribed International Sovereign Bond issues. Under Governor Cabraal’s guidance, Sri Lanka was able to maintain sound and stable macro-economic fundamentals, with inflation being contained to low levels, and financial system stability being achieved in a time of severe global uncertainties and turmoil.

Cabraal was previously the Presidential Advisor on Economic Affairs and Secretary, Ministry of Plan Implementation, and closely associated in the development of the Policy Framework and Development Plan of the Government. He served on the Board of the Strategic Enterprises Management Agency, and as a Member of the Government Team that participated at the Geneva “Peace Talks” with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in February 2006.

Prior to his state appointments, Cabraal functioned as a highly sought-after Consultant specializing in Business Revival and Turnarounds, Planning and Corporate Governance. He also served as the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka in 1992/93, and the South Asian Federation of Accountants in 1993. Cabraal also had the distinction of serving as the Founder President of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Sri Lanka, which is a Member of INSOL International. He was an Eisenhower Fellow in the year 2000 Multi-Nation Fellowship Program of the US based Eisenhower Foundation as well.

From 1997 to 1999, he served as the President of the St. Peter’s College Old Boys Union while in 2019, he was honoured by the Ramanya Maha Nikaya (රාමඤ්ඤ මහා නිකාය) with the title “Desha Keerthi Lanka Puthra” (“දේශ කීර්ති ලංකා පුත්‍ර”) for his outstanding services to the country and the economy.

Governor Cabraal is the author of the books:

• “Towards a Sri Lankan Renaissance” – 2002
• “ලක් මවට මුතු පොටක්” (A string of Pearls for Mother Lanka) – 2004
• “The Great Bondscam Cover-up” – 2019
• “Balancing the Basics” – 2022, and
• “ආර්ථික ඝාතකයන් මැද” (Amidst Economic Hit-men) – 2022

He is a voracious reader, an eloquent speaker, a lover of music, animals & sports, and a person with many unique insights & experiences.