Background
Born to Ariyaratna Karunatileke and Neeta Freeda Karunatileke, his father was a Land Settlement Officer in the Land Department.
Born to Ariyaratna Karunatileke and Neeta Freeda Karunatileke, his father was a Land Settlement Officer in the Land Department.
Later he gained a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics on a Colombo Plan scholarship and a Master of Public Administration and Master of Arts in Economics from Harvard University in on a Fulbright Research Fellowship.
He was the former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He received his primary education at Street Thomas Preparatory College, Kollupitiy and secondary education at Trinity College, Kandy. Thereafter he gained a scholarship to University of Ceylon, graduating in 1951 with a Bachelor special degree in Economics.
He went on to gain his Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from the University of London.
After graduating from University of Ceylon, he served as a tutor until he joined the Central Bank of Ceylon in 1952 and was appointed Director of Economic Research in 1975. In 1978, he was appointed Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank.
From 1988 to 1992 he served as the Governor of the Central Bank. He was President of the Royal Asiatic Society (Sri Lanka Branch), Society for International Development (Sri Lanka Chapter), Sri Lanka Economic Association and was the first Editor of the Sri Lanka Economic Journal.
He served in the Board of Governors of the Trinity College and Street Thomas Preparatory College.
Doctor Karunatilake authored 17 books on Economics and Banking in Sri Lanka and more than 150 articles published in local and foreign journals.
