The Role as Governor

Since starting his tenure as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in 2006, Cabraal has managed to bring down Sri Lanka's inflation to significantly low levels. Other progress that has occurred during Cabraal’s time at the Central Bank includes substantial economic growth with GDP doubling, a fall in unemployment, and reduction in poverty.

Cabraal is a leading figure in Sri Lanka’s drive to boost Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment or foreign investment refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor.. It is the sum of equity capital,other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in...

, and short term capital inflows. He is also advisor to President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Percy Mahendra "Mahinda" Rajapaksa ; ; born November 18, 1945) is the 6th and current President of Sri Lanka and Commander in Chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. A lawyer by profession, Rajapaksa was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970, and served as prime minister from April 6,...

 on economic affairs.

Cabraal has been predicting a strong upturn in the Sri Lankan economy following the end of the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...

 (LTTE). In an interview with the BBC on 8 February 2010 Mr Cabraal said that "only a matter of time" before the economy enjoys a boom.

Role in Economic Reconstruction

Mr Cabraal has also been leading on the economic reconstruction in the former conflict zones committing the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Government to spend $1bn (€730m, £639m) a year from 2010 to bring the northern Tamil-dominated parts of the country "up to scratch", which will include spending on hospitals and schools.

In January 2010 Sri Lanka was upgraded to the status of Middle Income Country by the International Monetary Fund

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...

.

On 12 May 2010 Mr. Cabraal met with representatives of Coca Cola, Marriott Hotels and U.S. Chamber of Commerce members to expand foreign investment in Sri Lanka and discuss Sri Lanka’s efforts to reconcile the Northern Province after years of conflict.

He noted that tourism and shares on Colombo’s stock exchange have both advanced dramatically in the past year: “We are open for business. We have investments from all parts of the globe and we welcome them.”

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires on 12 May 2010, Mr. Cabraal announced Sri Lanka was considering a new sovereign bond sale for up to $1 billion for July. This bond sale would follow the successful $500 million bond offering in October which drew $6.8 billion in bids from overseas buyers. These funds are helping to rebuild the Sri Lankan economy.

On 13 May 2010, during an interview with Bloomberg

Bloomberg L.P.

Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately held financial software, media, and data company. Bloomberg makes up one third of the $16 billion global financial data market with estimated revenue of $6.9 billion. Bloomberg L.P...

, Mr. Cabraal declared that with the current encouraging inflation figures, he intended to keep the current stance on interest rates at their lowest levels since 2005.

Early career

Before becoming the Governor of the Central Bank, he was a member of the Government Team that participated in the Geneva Talks with the LTTE. In February 2006, and he represented the Government in relation to the Millennium Challenge Fund negotiations with the US Government.

Mr. Cabraal was the Founder Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee which developed the Code of Best Practice on Corporate Governance in Sri Lanka. He served as the President of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Sri Lanka. He is also a former Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL), and President of South Asian Federation of Accountants and the St. Peter’s College Old Boys Union.

Mr Cabraal has also served as a Member of the Boards of the Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA), of the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Institute of Business Management, Post Graduate Institute of Management and the University of Moratuwa

University of Moratuwa

The University of Moratuwa, located on the banks of the Bolgoda Lake in Katubedda, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, is a technological university in Sri Lanka. Apart from the academics including the undergraduate and postgraduate studies, university of Moratuwa presents a variety of social and cultural...

.