Ajith Nivard Cabraal

From TobaccoUnmasked

Background

Ajith Nivard Cabraal is the 16th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (Image 1).[1][2] He was appointed two times to this position previously; July 2006 and July 2010. [3]

He served as the State Minister of Money and Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms since August 2020.[2] He is a founding member of Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP), the new political party that spun off from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), one of the two prominent political parties in Sri Lanka. SLPP won the general elections in August 2020 and became the governing party of Sri Lanka forming the current government. to date.[4]

Cabraal, born in 14 December 1954, was educated at St Peter’s College, Colombo, and is a Chartered Accountant by profession.[4][5] He is married to Roshini Cabraal, and is a father to two sons.[6][7]

Image 1: Ajith Nivard Cabraal. Source: Ministry of Finance [2]

Political/Government positions held

  • Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka – 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2010; 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2016; 15 September 2021 to the present date[3][1]
  • Member of the Parliament from National list - 20 August 2020 to 13 September 2021[8]
  • Member, ‘Api Venuwen Api’ Fund (A government managed fund for the welfare of Sri Lanka Army Veterans) – January 2020 [9]
  • Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs – July 2006 to January 2015[2][5][10]
  • Secretary, Ministry of Plan Implementation- 2005 to 2015 [5][2][9]
  • Chairman, Monetary Board- 2006 [11]
  • Member, Board of Strategic Enterprises Management Agency[2][6][5]
  • Member, Government team in peace discussions with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) –February 2006 [2]

Other Positions Held

  • Alternate Governor, International Monetary Fund – 2006 to 2015[12]
  • Chairman, South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) Board of Governors - 2006 to 2015 [12]
  • Chairman, SAARC Central Bank Governors Forum - 2006 to 2015[12]
  • President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka[2][6]
  • President, South Asian Federation of Accountants[2][6]
  • President, St. Peter's College Old Boys Union – 1997 to 1999 and 2019 [2]
  • President, Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Sri Lanka[6][13]
  • Founder chairman, Corporate Governance Committee [6][13]
  • Member of Council, National Institute of Business Management[6][5][14]
  • Member of Council, Postgraduate Institute of Management[6][5][14]
  • Member of Council, University of Moratuwa[6][5][14]
  • Member, Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka[6][5][14]
  • Member, Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board[6][14]

Links to the Tobacco Industry

Cabraal Consulting Group, is a management consultancy firm in “Business Revival and Turnarounds, Planning and Corporate Governance” led by Cabraal up to 2005. [10] They have mentioned Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) as one of their clients in their official website (Image 2).[15] Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC), which holds a monopoly of cigarette manufacturing and sales in Sri Lanka, is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT).

Image 2: Cabraal Consulting mentioning the Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) as their client. Source: Cabraal Consulting[15]

Tobacco Related Activities

Responding to the involvement of Bank of Ceylon (BOC) to the cigarette stockpiling issue

Bank of Ceylon (BOC) was accused of approving a loan to D S Gunasekara Ltd to stockpile cigarettes prior to a potential tax increase and a price hike in December 2020. The loan worth of Rs. 3,150 million was granted through the BOC Katuwana branch in September 2020 following approval by the BOC headquarters amidst the objections of two members of the Board of Directors. Please visit our page on Bank of Ceylon and the Cigarette Stockpiling Issue for more details.

The opposition leader Sajith Premadasa questioned the then Money and Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms State Minister Cabraal on this issue on 9th February 2021 at the Parliament.[16] Premadasa questioned the integrity of the principles of the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) to approve a loan to a company that hopes to stock cigarettes to earn profits by evading government tax.[17] Responding to that Minister Cabraal justified the actions of the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) stating BOC has not gone beyond their usual procedures and practice in provision of this loan. He further mentioned that this stock of cigarettes had been released to D S Gunasekara Ltd after they had settled the loan and the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) had gained a profit of Rs 31.3 million from this transaction.[18]

Participation in Events

Cabraal participated in the ground breaking ceremony of the construction of ITC One, the first international venture in Sri Lanka of the Indian Tobacco Company, ITC Limited India (Image 3). Basil Rajapaksa (Minister for Economic Development), Y K Sinha (High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka), Y C Deveshwar (Chairman, ITC Limited), Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena (Minister for Investment Promotion), A.J.M. Muzammil (Mayor of Colombo) also participated the event.[19][20]

Image 3: ITC Colombo ground breaking ceremony reported by media. Source: News.lk[20]

TobaccoUnmasked Resources

The local language translations

TobaccoUnmasked_Sinhala
TobaccoUnmasked_Tamil



Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Z. Farzan. Ajith Nivard Cabraal appointed as CBSL Governor, Newsfirst.lk, 13 September 2021, accessed September 2021
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Ministry of Finance. Hon. Ajith Nivard Cabraal- State Minister of Money & Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms, 2017, accessed September 2021
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Press Release, 9 January 2015, accessed September 2021
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hon. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, M.P., Undated, accessed September 2021
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, 2018, accessed September 2021
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 CelebsAgeWiki.com. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, 2020, accessed September 2021
  7. ↑ Sri Lanka Mirror. Cabraal refutes claims of his children arriving at SL, 5 May 2020, accessed September 2021
  8. ↑ Manthri.lk. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, 2020, accessed September 2021
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 themorning.lk. Cabraal appointed board member of ‘Api Venuwen Api’ fund, 21 January 2020, accessed September 2021
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The morning.lk. Cabraal and family links uncovered, 18 February 2018, accessed September 2021
  11. ↑ Financial Chronicle. Who is Ajith Nivard Cabraal, 2 October 2019, accessed September 2021
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Sri Lanka Investment Forum 2021. Biography, 2021, accessed September 2021
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 adaderana.lk. Ajith Nivard Cabraal to step down from his post, 9 January 2015, accessed September 2021
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Cabraal Consulting. Our team, undated, accessed September 2021
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Cabral Consulting. Our Clients, undated, accessed September 2021
  16. ↑ Parliament of Sri Lanka. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 9 February 2021, accessed September 2021
  17. ↑ Newsfirst.lk. BOC generates millions by offering massive loan for cigarette imports : Cabraal, 9 February 2021, accessed September 2021
  18. ↑ Y. Perera, A. Siriwardana. Providing Rs. 3.1 billion loan to D.S. Gunasekera Pvt. Ltd., ‘BOC adhered to usual procedures, 10 February 2021, accessed September 2021
  19. ↑ ITC. Ground Breaking Ceremony of ITC Colombo One, 19 November 2014, accessed September 2021
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 News.lk. Ground Breaking Ceremony of ITC Colombo One, 21 November 2014, accessed September 2021
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