Who better to tell the story of how the crisis erupted in Sri Lanka’s financial system than Ajith Nivard Cabraal?
Cabraal was twice the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the former State Minister of Money and Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms, and Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs.
The Buddhist Ramanya Maha Chapter conferred him the title Desha Keerthi Lanka Puthra for his outstanding services to the country’s economy during the period he was serving as the 12th Governor of the Central Bank.
Cabraal transformed the Sri Lankan economy from a GDP of US$ 24 billion to US$ 79 billion making the country a fast-growing middle income emerging market nation.
Following numerous criticisms of maligning his character and complaints alluding that Sri Lanka’s economy started collapsing as a result of his economic management, Cabraal took a strong and professional stand to defend his case.
These character challenges forced him to tap into his reasoning to elucidate and illuminate the backstage of the current economic crisis. Ajith Nivard Cabraal has come to the fore with his new book to reveal what has been under wraps about the country’s current economic crisis.
Ajith Nivard Cabraal has published his new book in the Sinhala language titled Aarthika Ghathakayan Meda (“Amid Economic Hit-Men”) to elucidate the beginning, the middle, and the final stages of the financial crisis in the country, its causes, and the people who engineered it.
Cabraal told us that this book would be his testimony before the public about the course of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.
The author said that the biggest betrayal this country faced after the independence was the announcement of Sri Lanka as a “bankrupt” country to the world.
“Many sinister agents worked on this despicable conspiracy of bankrupting the nation over a long period. They aimed to bankrupt the nation and make it submissive before the powerful nations,” he said.
“These influential powers and their local agents tried their best to bankrupt the country through me. However, we did not bow despite the immense pressure they exerted on us. It is they who had accused me of offending them for not bankrupting the nation,” he said.
The book “Amid Economic Hit-Men” contains details about them and how they carried out their sinister plans to destroy Sri Lanka’s economy.