1) Indrajit Coomaraswamy, a well-known Sri Lankan economist, hails from one of the country’s most respected Tamil families.He is  the son of the iconic diplomat, Raju Coomaraswamy, alias ‘ Roving Raju’, and a brother of Radhika Coomaraswamy, a human rights activists who is also a member of Sri Lanka's Constitutional Council.

2) Indrajit was also known as a dashing sportsman having captained the Sri Lanka and CR & FC rugby teams. In addition, he captained the Harrow School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge cricket XIs. He also played cricket for the Tamil Union Sports Club in Colombo. In the early 70s, he was a popular sportsman in Colombo.

3)  Dr. Coomaraswamy received his primary and secondary education at Royal College in Colombo and at Harrow School in England.He obtained his undergraduate degree at Cambridge and his Doctorate at the University of Sussex. Therefore, with this new appointment, Coomaraswamy joins the elite group of Royalists running the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration. 
 

4) Joining the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in 1973, he served in the Economic Research, Statistics and Bank Supervision divisions as a staff officer till 1989.He was attached to the Ministry of Finance and Planning from 1981 to 1989. He is known as an economist who is equally strong on the academic and administrative fronts - which made him a strong candidate for the Central Bank Governor's position. 

5) Coomaraswamy also served as a special advisor to the Galleon group, founded by controversial businessman Raj Rajaratnam, a Sri Lankan American currently serving a 11 year prison term. 

6) Incumbent Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake was once accused of depositing funds sent by convicted hedge fund owner Raj Rajaratnam, in a private bank without informing the Central Bank. Karunanayake's name, however, has been cleared by the Colombo High Court which heard the case for nearly four years.