Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana
Chair – Academic Programme
Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana, Ph.D., a distinguished economic advisor and international consultant, currently holds the position of Chair of the Academic Programme at Advocata Institute. He possesses extensive experience, having served as Economic Advisor to His Excellency President Ranil Wickremesinghe from 2022 to 2024, and previously to His Excellency President Maithripala Sirisena from 2015 to 2019.
Dr. Rajapatirana had a prominent 34-year career at the World Bank from 1975 to 2010. During his tenure as a staff member, he was deployed in Burma, Nepal, and Indonesia. Subsequently, in a consultancy role, his work extended across numerous countries on three continents, including Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Macedonia, Nepal, Slovakia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam. His positions at the World Bank included Director and principal author of the 1987 World Development Report on Trade and Industrialisation, Director of the Macroeconomic Comparative Study of Developing Countries, Chief of Trade, Industry and Finance for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, and Economic Advisor in the Latin America Technical Department. He also held the position of Chief of the Policy Analysis Unit, Office of the Vice President of Research Staff.
Prior to his World Bank engagement, Dr. Rajapatirana held significant roles at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, including Chief of the Money and Banking Division of the Research Department (1973-75), where he directed a team on monetary policy, prepared central bank reports, and negotiated IMF Stand-by arrangements. He also served as an Assistant Accountant (1965-67) and Economist (1967-68) within the same division.
Dr. Rajapatirana's academic qualifications include a B.A. (Economics) (Honors) from the University of Ceylon (1964), two Master's degrees in Economics from the University of Massachusetts (1969) and the University of Minnesota (1972), doctoral studies (ABD) from the University of Minnesota (1969-72), and a Ph.D. from the University of Colombo (2015). He was a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute from 1997 to 2010 and an External Examiner for PhD students at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Additionally, he served as a Visiting Professor at the Ho Chih Minh Economics University and An Giang University in Vietnam.
A prolific scholar, Dr. Rajapatirana has authored and co-authored six books and fifty-five papers in peer-reviewed publications. He has presented his research at distinguished institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, and the University of California at Los Angeles. Currently, he is a Vice President of the Sri Lanka Economists Association (SLEA) and has served on the boards of the Institute of Policy Studies, Gamani Corea Foundation, and University of Jayawardenapura Postgraduate Institute of Management Board of Studies. His extensive international consulting expertise encompasses engagements with organizations such as the World Trade Organisation and the International Trade Center (ITC) in Geneva. Dr. Rajapatirana exhibits advanced proficiency in English and Sinhalese, proficient command of Spanish, and intermediate knowledge of Indonesian and Malay. He is also a Founder Member and Coordinator of the Peradeniya Plus Group, a discussion forum for former senior Sri Lankan government officials, university academics, and former officials of international economic institutions.