Ganeshan Wignaraja

Dr. Ganeshan Wignaraja

Professorial Fellow in Economics and Trade

Dr. Ganeshan Wignaraja is Professorial Fellow in Economics and Trade at Gateway House and Visiting Senior Fellow at ODI Global in London. He holds visiting appointments at the National University of Singapore and RIS in New Delhi. He is a member of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s Stakeholder Engagement Committee on monetary policy and financial stability matters. Previously, he served on the WTO Director-General’s Task Force on Aid for Trade during the WTO Doha Round and the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s Task Force on the Indian Ocean. In a career spanning over 30 years in the UK and Asia, he has held senior roles in international organizations (including the Director of Research at the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo, Chief Programme Officer at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and a Visiting Scholar at the IMF in Washington DC), government (including Executive Director of the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry’s think tank), and the private sector (including Global Head of Trade and Competitiveness at Maxwell Stamp PLC in London). He also worked at the Institute of Economics and Statistics at Oxford University and the OECD in Paris. Dr. Wignaraja has published extensively on macroeconomics, international trade, regional economic integration and economic development. He has successfully led teams to deliver complex projects for aid agencies and governments in over 30 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. He has a DPhil in economics from Oxford University and a BSc in economics from the London School of Economics.
Expertise

Macroeconomic Outlook of the World Economy and Asia, Global Supply Chains and Free Trade Agreements, International Financial Architecture and Foreign Aid.

Last modified: October 10, 2024

Recent projects

Screenshot 2024-10-10 132648 Courtesy:
10 October 2024 T20 Brazil

Protectionism and Rising Challenges to Ensuring the Developing World’s Priorities in the G20 Agenda

The breakdown of the Doha negotiations at the World Trade Organization and ongoing wars in Ukraine and West Asia have led to rising protectionism, which disproportionately affects developing countries. This policy brief recommends how the G20, representing nearly 75% of international trade, can leverage its position to advance a non-discriminatory, sustainable, and transparent multilateral trading system for low and middle-income countries.
This handout photograph taken and released by the Sri Lanka President's Office on September 23, 2024 shows Sri Lanka's new President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka attending his swearing-in ceremony, in Colombo. - Sri Lanka's first leftist president was sworn in to office on September 23 vowing to restore public faith in politics but said he had no magic solution to the hardships suffered following an unprecedented economic crisis. (Photo by Sri Lanka President's Office / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/SRI LANKA PRESIDENT'S OFFICE" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS Courtesy:
3 October 2024 The Indian Express

Sri Lanka’s new positioning

The new Sri Lankan government led by President Anura Kumar Dissanayake held its first meeting with the International Monetary Fund on October 3, to discuss further debt relief. Dissanayake, who overcame voter apprehension in the country’s presidential elections held two weeks ago, now has a historic opportunity to bring Sri Lanka out of the crisis and enable a compassionate and efficient transformation.
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27 August 2024 Overseas Development Institute

Sri Lanka: from debt default to transformative growth

Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt default in 2022 triggered the worst economic crisis in the country’s post-independence history. By mid-2024, the economy started showing signs of recovery, with a performance higher than other debt-defaulting nations and exceeded IMF expectations. The current stable path, however, is not enough. Sri Lanka needs to shift its economic trajectory from one of debt distress to sustained growth over the next few years.
wignraja Courtesy:
9 July 2024 DD India

Indian Diplomacy: Diversifying Global Supply Chains

China-centric global supply chains, the backbone of East Asia’s prosperity, are shifting out as tensions over tariffs and strategic contest between the West and China soars. Ganeshan Wignaraja, Professorial Fellow, Economics and Trade, Gateway House, discusses diversifying supply chains, the China plus one strategy, and the role of India as a supply chain magnet for its South Asian neighbours.
Tourists visit Gangaramaya Buddhist temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 25,2024. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte Courtesy:
6 June 2024 East Asia Forum

Sri Lanka confronts illegal tourist ventures

Asian nations like Sri Lanka have seen a rush of Russian and Ukrainian tourists over the last two years. They discover salubrious climes and overstay their visas to start small businesses. It has helped Sri Lanka boost tourism after its 2022 debt default but also created economic problems for locals. It is necessary to identify trade-offs between economic benefits and security threats associated with extended-stay tourism.
SriLankaCrisis Courtesy: Business Standard
9 May 2024 Institute of South Asian Studies

Sovereign default and economic crisis in Sri Lanka

In April 2022, Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debts kicking off its worst economic downturn in over 70 years. In a paper for the Institute of South Asian Studies, Ganeshan Wignaraja examines key policy, the benefits of IMF support, and the role that Indian aid has played in Sri Lanka’s recovery while emphasising potential risks of its upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
SA trade Courtesy: Hindustan Times
15 February 2024 Financial Express

South Asia’s trade architecture matters

South Asia requires resilient and cost-effective regional supply chains. This can be achieved through Indian investment, fostering local linkages while reducing dependency on Chinese financing of regional partners. A new approach enhances India's regional influence, creating a win-win scenario for the entire South Asian neighbourhood in a changing global landscape.
skynews-colombo-sri-lanka-port_5811767 Courtesy: Reuters
1 February 2024 The Hindu

Pulling Sri Lanka out of the abyss

Sri Lanka has demonstrated signs of recovery following the stabilising policies implemented by the Wickremesinghe government. However, the road ahead for economic recovery is long, with risks associated with the upcoming Presidential elections, geopolitical tensions and debt restructuring.
Screenshot 2023-12-21 at 10.24.21 AM Courtesy: Le Monde
21 December 2023 East Asia Forum

Political risks to Sri Lanka’s economic stability

A stabilising economy in Sri Lanka has eased inflationary pressures and foreign exchange liquidity crises in the past year. As economic recovery steps up, Sri Lanka has also sought free trade agreement-led Asian regionalism. However, with presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 2024 and an opposition that wants to renegotiate the IMF agreement, A lasting economic recovery may be derailed by political risks.
China-Flag-Country-Africa-Map-Silhouette_News Courtesy: Global Trade Observer
23 November 2023 Gateway House

How will 2023 BRI Reset Impact Africa?

President Xi’s speech at the 3rd BRI Forum for International Cooperation in October 2023 has grabbed the headlines in suggesting a vision for a reset BRI, ten years on. Is it a case of ‘old wine in new bottles’ or something radically different? And what does it mean for African development, the poorest continent on the planet?