Dr. Dushni Weerakoon appointed to Monetary Board

The Executive Director of Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and head of its Macroeconomic Policy research Dr. Dushni Weerakoon has been appointed to the Monetary Board of the Central Bank with effect from July 29, the Central Bank said yesterday.

Dr. Weerakoon joined the IPS in 1994 on completing her PhD, and has written and published widely on macroeconomic policy, regional trade integration and international economics.  
She has extensive experience in public policy engagement and currently serves on the Trade and Productivity Commission (2019 ), Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade; and has served on the Committee of Experts to Formulate the National Sustainable Development Vision of Sri Lanka: 2030, Presidential Secretariat (2017-18); Committee on Trade Policy Formulation, Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade (2016); Trade and Tariff Committee, Ministry of Finance (2004-10); Committee of Experts to negotiate the South Asian Free Trade Agreement, Ministry of Trade and Commerce (2004-05); and Macro and Trade Policy Steering Committee, Ministry of Policy Development and Implementation (2002-04), amongst others. 

She has worked as a consultant to international organizations such as the ADB, World Bank, UNESCAP, UNDP and ILO, and served as a resource person on the Asia-Pacific Regional Trade Policy Course conducted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and University of Hong Kong (2003-06). 

She serves currently as a Series Editor for the South Asia Economic and Policy Studies for Springer publications, Editors-in-Chief of the South Asia Economic Journal, Editorial Board of the Journal of South Asian Development, and as Editor of the IPS’ annual flagship report ‘Sri Lanka: State of the Economy’.  

She has experience as a director on the boards of corporate and academic entities, including as an Independent Non-Executive Director at the Nations Trust Bank (2007-2016), Cargills Bank (2018-2019), and as a Director at the Centre for Poverty Analysis (2008-2014), Gamani Corea Foundation (2018), and Social Policy Analysis and Research Centre (SPARC) of the University of Colombo (2018). 

Dr. Weerakoon holds a BSc in Economics with First Class Honours from the Queen’s University of Belfast, U.K., and an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Manchester, U.K. 

She is a recipient of the Arts Faculty Scholarship from the University of Colombo, the McKane Medal and Scholarship from the Queen’s University of Belfast, a Postgraduate Scholarship from the University of Manchester, an Overseas Research Scholarship from the Government of the UK, and the Drummond Frazer Research Studentship from the University of Manchester.