The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව, Sri Lanka Maha Bankuwa) is the

monetary authority In finance and economics, a monetary authority is the entity that manages a country’s currency and money supply, often with the objective of controlling inflation, interest rates, real GDP or unemployment rate. With its monetary tools, a m ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA), it is a semi-autonomous body, and following the amendments to the MLA in December 2002, is governed by a five-member Monetary Board, comprising the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

as chairman, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Planning, and three members appointed by the

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, with the concurrence of the Constitutional Council.

History

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka was established in 1950, two years after independence. The founder governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was

John Exter John Exter (September 17, 1910 – February 28, 2006) was an American economist, member of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System, and founder of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He is also known for creating ''Exter's Py ...

, while the minister of finance at the time was J. R. Jayewardene. Under the former name of Central Bank of Ceylon, it replaced the Currency Board that until then had been responsible for issuing the country's money. It is a member of the

Asian Clearing Union The Asian Clearing Union (ACU) was established on December 9, 1974, at the initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The primary objective of ACU, at the time of its establishment, was to se ...

. The bank's main tasks are the conduct of

monetary policy Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for federal funds, very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money s ...

in Sri Lanka and also has wide supervisory powers over the

financial system A financial system is a system that allows the exchange of funds between financial market participants such as lenders, investors, and borrowers. Financial systems operate at national and global levels. Financial institutions consist of complex, c ...

. The bank is engaged in developing policies to promote

financial inclusion Financial inclusion is defined as the availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services. It refers to a process by which individuals and businesses can access appropriate, affordable, and timely financial products and service ...

and is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). With a view to encouraging and promoting the development of the productive resources of Sri Lanka, the CBSL is responsible for securing price stability and financial system stability. The CBSL is also responsible for currency issuance and management. In addition, the CBSL is the advisor on economic affairs as well as the banker to the

Government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the isl ...

(GOSL). On behalf of GOSL, the CBSL, as its agent, is responsible for four agency functions, viz. management of the Employees Provident Fund; management of the public debt of Sri Lanka; administration of the provisions of the Exchange Control Act; and administration of foreign and government-funded credit schemes for regional development.

Organisational structure

The Governor of the CBSL functions as its chief executive officer. The Governor, Deputy Governors and Assistant Governors, along with the Heads of Departments, form the senior management of the CBSL. Functionally, the CBSL presently consists of 30 departments, each headed by a Director (or equivalent), reporting to the Governor or the Deputy Governor through an Assistant Governor, with the exception of the Management Audit Department, which reports directly to the governor. The Economic Research and Bank Supervision Departments were explicitly set up under the original legislation establishing the CBSL, with certain statutory functions. The Economic Research Department, headed by the Director of Economic Research/Chief Economist, is required to compile data and conduct economic research for the guidance of the Monetary Board and for the information of the public, while the Bank Supervision Department, headed by the Director of Bank Supervision, is required to engage in the continuous regulation and supervision of all banking institutions in Sri Lanka. The current members of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka are: # Hon. Dr P.

Nandalal Weerasinghe P. Nandalal Weerasinghe is a Sri Lankan economist and banker who is also currently serving as the 17th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. A career officer in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, serving as its chief economist and senior deputy ...

(Governor) - Chairman # K M M Siriwardana (Secretary to the Treasury and Ministry of Finance) # Sanjeeva Jayawardena, PC - Appointed Member # Ranee Jayamaha - Appointed Member # Nihal Fonseka - Appointed Member

History

Organisational structure

Governors

See also

References

External links