W. D. Lakshman

[1][2] He is regarded as one of the prominent economists of the country mainly well known for his immense contributions to policy related activities and for being specialised in the field of Economics.

[10] The University of Colombo, in recognition of his services to higher education honoured him with the degree in Doctor of Letters in 2008 during an annual convocation.

[11] In 2018, he was also appointed as the chairman of the Presidential committee by the then president Maithripala Sirisena to probe and report on the controversial Singapore-Sri Lanka Trade Agreement.

[12][13] On 24 December 2019, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed him as the 15th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka replacing Indrajit Coomaraswamy who resigned from the position for personal reasons.

[17][18] He also faced severe criticism during his tenure as CBSL governor, as the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had printed too much money, much more than required which eventually led to a soar in general price levels.

[20][21] Lakshman along with the Rajapakasha brothers and others were found guilty of economic mismanagement between 2019 and 2022 by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka which stated on 14 November 2023 that the respondents have breached the fundamental rights to equal protection of the law in terms of Article 12(1) of the Constitution in a fundamental rights petition filed by filed by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) and other four activists.