Manohari Gunawardhena
Senior Financial Sector Specialist, South Asia Regional Department
Manohari Gunawardhena is a Senior Financial Sector Specialist attached to the South Asia Regional Department of ADB. In her present capacity she originates loan and technical assistance projects in the financial sector and related operations on private sector development, in member countries in the region. She is a commercial and development banker with 25 years’ experience gained at Standard Charted Bank in Colombo, with training in Singapore and Dubai. She held positions of responsibility in treasury, lending, investment banking, and risk management. Prior to her present position, she served in ADB's Private Sector Operations Division as an Investment Specialist and managed portfolios in India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, China, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan. She has a bachelor’s degree in Science from the University of Kelaniya, Master of Business Administration from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and a master’s degree in financial economics from the University of Colombo Sri Lanka. She has completed a Harvard University online course on Financial Technology.
In addition, she was a visiting lecturer at the master’s degree in financial mathematics at the University of Colombo and a visiting lecturer at the Training College of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Institute of Bankers, Sri Lanka.