According to political top guns close to ruling side notes that top authorities has suggested that Dinesh Weerakkody - the eldest Son-In-Law of Tourism Minister John Amaratunga is a better choice for next Central Bank Governor whilst Arjuna Mahendran's tenure is coming to an end by June this year. Further JVP has also objected the extension of Mahendran's tenure and meanwhile political sources close to Chandrika Bandaranaike highlights that another Secretary from a Ministry had also been named as the possible next Central Bank Governor.
Dinesh Weerakkody is known as double player in Politics for his business career's survival in Sri Lanka he currently serves on the board of Ceylon Tobacco PLC and Access Engineering PLC.
Dinesh Weerakkody is also the former Chairman of Commercial Bank of Ceylon. He is a former Chairman/CEO of the Employees' Trust Fund Board of Sri Lanka. He serves and had served in a number of government and private sector boards. He is also a Vice-President of the International Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka Chapter and a Vice-President of Sri Lanka Tennis.
Mr. Weerakkody was also Advisor to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2002-2004 and has served in many Cabinet Sub-Committees and national level committees on Economic Affairs, International Affairs and Labour Management. During his public sector career, Mr. Weerakkody engaged pro-actively and innovatively in economic, trade, labour and cultural matters in both bilateral and multilateral contexts.
From 2005-2009 Mr. Weerakkody was a Council Member and 2008-2009 Chairman Employer Relations, CIMA Sri Lanka Division. He is a Graduate in Business Administration, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants United Kingdom, Fellow Member of the Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka, Professional Member of the Singapore Human Resource Institute and has obtained an MBA from the University of Leicester, England. Mr. Weerakkody has received extensive Leadership, HR, and Management training in the UK, USA, France, Japan, Singapore and India. He has been on the Sri Lankan Board of GlaxoSmithKline Sri Lanka since 2000 and is Chairman of Cornucopia Lanka Ltd. and Director/Advisor of Cornucopia Bangalore, India.
Dinesh has published widely on HR, Leadership, Management, International Relations and development issues, and also has been involved in large-scale research projects in the USA and has presented many papers at national and international level. He is a recipient of many awards, including a Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award in 1999 and an International Associations of Lions Clubs National Achievers Award in 2008.
His Book - 'In The Best Interest of My Country' was launched on 3rd July 2013
He also published a book called 'November Revolution' which explained how former Rajapaksa Government was toppled and President Sirisena was appointed