Dr Coomaraswamy responds to claims over ties with Rajaratnam

Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy says that his primary responsibility as the governor is to uphold the reputation and credibility of the central bank, one of the very great intuitions of the country.
 
I intend to do my best to make sure that this organisation’s reputation, prestige, credibility is upheld, he said addressing his first media briefing today (5).  
 
With regard to the future task, he said that Sri Lanka needs to stabilize the economy and get strong macro economical fundamentals. “That is the key building block and the central bank has a key role to play.”
 
On the steps taken and policies implemented by the government so far, he said: “I think we are on the right track but we have to sustain it.” He stated that the implementation of policies will be crucial.

Responding to a question, he said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) simply endorsed what the government needed to do and that it did not impose any conditions on Sri Lanka. 

Asked about his ties with Galleon Group hedge fund cofounder Raj Rajaratnam, who was convicted in 2011 on insider trading charges, Dr Coomaraswamy said that he did macroeconomic research for the Sri Lankan-American Billionaire who he knew as a friend. 
   
“It was a question of delivering some professional services for him, which is basically doing macroeconomic research,” he said, adding that the time he did that work was before Rajaratnam was charged with any misdemeanor.
 
“In fact I have known him for a long time. When I was a research student at the University of Sussex, he was an undergraduate and we became friends.”
 
“When I was finishing at the Commonwealth Secretariat, he knew what my background was in terms of macroeconomic trend.  He wanted me to help him,” he said. 

Dr Coomaraswamy said that he did macroeconomic research for Rajaratnam for about 10 months. “I actually worked for him for about 10 months and my job was to provide research reports for him.”
 
“And then of course he was charged and the operation stopped. It took another year for the whole think to be wound up legally.”
  
“I knew him as a friend from the university.” He stated that one year before he was arrested, Rajaratnam helped a lot in Sri Lanka. “He helped this market, he helped after the tsunami, he had done a lot of positive things.”
 
He had set up a charitable fund which helped projects in the north and south of the country, he said.
 
“That’s the Raj Rajararatnam that I knew.”
 
“I thought I was working with somebody for whom I actually had a lot of regard because he had made a tremendous amount of money and he used that money often and in socially very positive ways.”