LNP – CB appoints four new Assistant Governors

The Monetary Board, at its meeting held on November 17th has promoted K. G. .P Sirikumara, D. Kumaratunge, U. L. Muthugala and C. P. S. Bandara to the post of Assistant Governor with effect from 17th November 2021.
Sirikumara has served the Central Bank for more than 21 years in different capacities in the Departments of Legal and Compliance and Secretariat.

He has served as a member in the National Payments Council, Financial Stability Committee, Non-financial Risk Management Committee, and in the Panel of Experts appointed under the Payment Devices Frauds Act, No.30 of 2006. He has also functioned as an observer in the Monetary Board Advisory Audit Committee and Board Risk Oversight Committee. Sirikumara holds Master of Laws Degrees from the Monash University, Australia and the University of Colombo. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree from the University of Colombo. He is an Attorney -at- Law and a member of the International Compliance Association (ICA), United Kingdom. He possesses International Diplomas in Anti Money Laundering (Graduate) and in Compliance (Graduate).

Kumaratunge has over 30 years of experience in the Central Bank and has worked in the Departments of Economic Research, Centre for Banking Studies, Information Technology, and Management Audit in different capacities before serving as the Director of Payments and Settlements Department from 2016.

Kumaratunge holds a Master of Science Degree in Information Technology from the University of Colombo, Master of Arts Degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics from the University of Essex, United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Peradeniya. He also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology obtained from the University of Colombo.

Meanwhile, Muthugala has served the Central Bank for more than 30 years in the Departments of Secretariat, Finance, Bank Supervision, Public Debt, International Operations, Internal Audit, Financial System Stability, Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions in different capacities.

She has functioned as the Chief Accountant as well as the Secretary of the CBSL. She also possesses expertise in core central banking areas of financial system stability, supervision and regulation of financial institutions, debt and portfolio management and international finance, and foreign reserves management.

She has further served as a member of several committees including Foreign Reserves Management Committee, Domestic Debt Management Committee, Internal Investment Committee, Committee on the International Sovereign Bond issue by the Government of Sri Lanka, Emergency Action Task Force established regarding COVID 19 pandemic and as an observer in Committees such as Financial System Stability Committee, Audit Committee, and the Internal Investment Oversight Committee.

She holds a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Colombo and is a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), United Kingdom. She also possesses the ACI Dealing Certificate of the Financial Markets Association.

C. P. S. Bandara has over 24 years of experience at the Central Bank in the areas of financial system stability, economic and price stability, corporate services, agency functions, business continuity planning, enterprise-wide risk management and strategic planning. He has served in the Departments of Risk Management, Policy Review and Monitoring, Payments and Settlements, Public Debt and Information Technology.

He was instrumental in establishing the first on-line communication network between the Central Bank, licensed commercial banks and the primary dealers and for the establishment of the Lanka Financial Services Bureau Ltd. He designed and developed the electronic bidding systems for primary auction of government securities, the settlement system for open market operations and the on-line financial market monitoring and regulatory reporting systems of the Central Bank. He played a key role in implementing the national payments and securities settlement systems infrastructure of the country. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Information Technology from Charles Sturt University, Australia, a Bachelor of Technology Degree in Computer Science from Monash University, Australia and a Diploma in Central Banking. He is also a Member of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka.