It is now in the grapevine that Dinesh Weerakkody will be appointed as the ‘interim’ Governor of Central Bank.

Although Arjuna Mahendran was the first choice to the post, he  had informed the government that he was not in a position to join immediately due to his professional commitments.

Until his return, government sources said, Weerakkoddy will overlook Central Bank. It is learnt that Mahendran will return to Sri Lanka in April to accept the post.

Weerakkody, who was the Chairman of Commercial Bank,  is also a former Chairman/CEO of the Employees' Trust Fund Board of Sri Lanka. He serves and had served in a number of government and private sector boards. He is also a Vice-President of the International Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka Chapter and a Vice-President of Sri Lanka Tennis.

He was also Advisor to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2002-2004 and has served in many Cabinet Sub-Committees and national level committees on Economic Affairs, International Affairs and Labour Management. During his public sector career, Weerakkody engaged pro-actively and innovatively in economic, trade, labour and cultural matters in both bilateral and multilateral contexts.

From 2005-2009 Weerakkody was a Council Member and 2008-2009 Chairman Employer Relations, CIMA Sri Lanka Division. He is a Graduate in Business Administration, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants United Kingdom, Fellow Member of the Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka, Professional Member of the Singapore Human Resource Institute and has obtained an MBA from the University of Leicester, England.