Dr Dushni Weerakoon

Dushni Weerakoon is the Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) and Head of its Macroeconomic Policy research. She joined the IPS in 1994 after obtaining her PhD, and has written and published widely on macroeconomic policy, regional trade integration and international economics.

She has extensive experience in public policy engagement with the Government of Sri Lanka, and currently serves as an Appointed Member of the Monetary Policy Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. She has previously served as a Director on the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and has wide ranging experience as a director on the boards of corporate entities, currently serving as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Cargills Ceylon (PLC) having previously held positions as an Independent Non-Executive Director at the Nations Trust Bank and the Cargills Bank.

She has worked as a consultant to international organisations such as the World Bank and ADB and functioned as a resource person on the Asia-Pacific Regional Trade Policy Course conducted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the University of Hong Kong. She holds positions on the boards of academic entities, including at present on the Advisory Board of the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES), Monash University, and is currently a Series Editor of the South Asia Economic and Policy Studies (Springer), Editors-in-Chief of the South Asia Economic Journal (SAGE Journals), Editorial Board of the Journal of South Asian Development (SAGE Journals) and the Journal of International Development (Wiley).

Dushni Weerakoon holds a BSc in Economics with First Class Honours from the Queen’s University of Belfast, U.K., and an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Manchester, U.K. She is a recipient of the Arts Faculty Scholarship from the University of Colombo, the McKane Medal and Scholarship from the Queen’s University of Belfast, a Postgraduate Scholarship from the University of Manchester, an Overseas Research Scholarship from the Government of the UK, and the Drummond Frazer Research Studentship from the University of Manchester.