Arjuna Mahendran

Arjuna Mahendran
Governor Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Assumed office
27 January 2015
Preceded by Ajith Nivard Cabraal
Personal details
Nationality Singapore
Profession Banker

Arjuna Mahendran is a Sri Lankan Tamil born Singaporean economist and banker.[1] He is the current Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), having been appointed by president Maithripala Sirisena in January 2015.[2] He was the former Managing Director of HSBC Private Bank, Chief Investment Officer of Emirates NBD as well as Chairman and Director-General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.[3] In January 2015 he was appointed as Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.[4][5]

Education

He was educated at Royal College, Colombo in Sri Lanka[6] and at Balliol College, Oxford, he gained a MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.[4]

Career

Mahendran joined the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, he had served as a senior economist before moving into investment banking in Singapore going on to serve as Managing Director and Chief Investment Strategist-Asia at HSBC Private Bank. He was responsible for driving research and providing in-depth analysis of markets in the Asia Pacific. Mr. Mahendran also led the analytics team in interpreting market economics and developing investment strategies for HSBC's clients in the region.Later he served as Chief Investment Officer-Wealth Management division at Emirates NBD. From 2001 to 2004 he served as Chairman and Director-General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI).For Mr. Mahendran's instrumental role in establishing the Board of Investments of Sri Lanka and driving its strategy, he was named a runner-up in Euromoney Strategic Direct Investor’s “CEO Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2003..[7] He served as Chief Economist & Strategist – Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse Group AG and was its Head of Research for Asia Pacific since October 2006.[8]

In 2015 he was appointed as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.[3] He was extremely critical of the Sri Lankan tax system and called the revenue which is only 10% of the GDP "pathetic" and compared the low tax collection in the country to the tax collection of a poor Sub-Saharan country and also criticized the complexity of the tax system and proposed to simplify it and introduce online tax payment systems to streamline tax collection.[9] He also slammed inefficient loss making state-owned enterprises as they have created losses in state banks while giving a "free ride" to private banks as they run on significant lending by the government banks and proposed to make public enterprises more efficient so that the banking system can be more efficient and make the economy grow faster.[10]

Controversy

In February 2015 CBSL advertised the sale of Rs. 1 billion in 30 year government bonds at an indicative rate of 9.5%.[11][12][13] The sale was oversubscribed with 36 bids of totaling Rs. 20 billion.[11] The majority of bidders, 26, bided for Rs. 100 million or less at a rate of 9.5%–10.5%.[11] However, a few bidders, including Perpetual Treasuries Limited, wanted interest rates of 11%–12%.[11] On 27 February 2015 the CBSL accepted Rs. 10 billion in bids at rates of 9.5%–12.5%.[11][13] The issuing of ten times the advertised bonds, and at a higher than expected rate, was alleged to cost the Sri Lankan government an additional Rs. 40–45 billion ($300–$340 million).[14][15][16] Perpetual Treasuries was issued, directly and indirectly, with Rs. 5 billion in bonds at 12.5%.[17][18][19][20] Perpetual Treasuries was one of the primary dealers in the sale and is owned by Mahendran's son-in-law Arjun Aloysius.[12][21][22] This situation became a controversial political issue in Sri Lanka as the newly elected Sri Lankan Government of President Maithreepala Sirisena came to power with a slogan of good governance in the country.[11] A three-member Committee of eminent lawyers was appointed to investigate the issue and the report produced by the committee claimed that there was no direct involvement by Mahendran in the deal.[23] The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka did not grant leave to proceed in a fundamental rights case that requested a separate inquiry into the bond issue, as no laws were broken.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Arjuna Mahendran. emiratesnbd.com
  2. ↑ Sri Lanka names international banker Mahendran as central bank chief. Reuters (15 January 2015). Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
  3. 1 2 Arjuna Mahendran new CB Governor. Dailymirror.lk. Retrieved on 19 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 Arjuna Mahendran. Emiratesnbd.com. Retrieved on 19 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "PROFILE-Sri Lanka's Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran". Reuters. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  6. ↑ On behalf of all her sons and daughters. Archives.dailynews.lk (18 November 2010). Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
  7. ↑ Central Bank looks at risk management structures and investment policy guidelines. Sundaytimes.lk (4 February 2015). Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
  8. ↑ "List of Public Companies Worldwide, Letter – Businessweek – Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Sri Lanka seeks to connect tax payers with revenue office online". Lanka Business Online. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "CB Governor slams CEB, CPC and SriLankan for dragging down state banks". Lanka Business Online. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "CB Governor faces ‘family company’ charges; calls mount for probe". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 8 March 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Harsha vows to go after fraudsters". The Nation (Sri Lanka). 8 March 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Sri Lankan central bank chief cleared over bond scandal". Mail Online. Agence France-Presse. 19 April 2015.
  14. ↑ Aneez, Shihar (23 April 2015). "Sri Lanka c.bank head resumes duty after bond probe report". Reuters.
  15. ↑ "CB Bond Issue Call For Independent Probe". The Sunday Leader. 26 April 2015.
  16. ↑ Fernando, Tharushan (24 May 2015). "Voice Against Corruption Movement condemns PM’s statement on CBSL fraud". News First.
  17. ↑ Samath, Feizal (22 March 2015). "News Bond issue: Probe committee to question dealers on inside info". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  18. ↑ "Primary dealers seek urgent meeting with CB on bond issue". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 15 March 2015.
  19. ↑ Shauketaly, Faraz (12 April 2015). "Trying To Stop The Third Force". The Sunday Leader.
  20. ↑ Perera, Yohan (11 March 2015). "Finance Minister dismisses bond issue allegations". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  21. ↑ "Central Bank Governor under fire". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 15 March 2015.
  22. ↑ "The Central Bank Bond Fiasco". The Nation (Sri Lanka). 14 March 2015.
  23. ↑ "No direct involvement by Mahendran-Committee". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  24. ↑ Court cannot direct CB Governor as no law has been broken: Counsel | The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Sundaytimes.lk (10 May 2015). Retrieved on 2015-11-19.
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