Ronnie de Mel

Ronnie de Mel
Minister of Finance
In office 23 July 1977 – 18 January 1988
President	J. R. Jayewardene
Prime Minister	Ranasinghe Premadasa J. R. Jayewardene
Preceded by	Felix Dias Bandaranaike
Succeeded by	M. H. M. Naina Marikkar
Personal details
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Other political affiliations	United National Party
Spouse(s)	Mallika Lakshmi de Mel (nee Fernando)
Children	Sunalini,Tara, Renuka
Residence	5, Charles Drive, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka.
Alma mater	St Thomas' College University of Ceylon
Occupation	Politics
Profession	Civil Servant
Religion	Buddhist

Ronald Joseph Godfrey de Mel, CCS (Sinhala: රොනි ද මැල්) (known as Ronnie de Mel) is a Sri Lankan politician, civil servant and currently Senior Adviser to President. He was Cabinet Minister of Finance from 1977 to 1988 and was instrumental in the establishment of the free market economy in Sri Lanka. He was a Member of Parliament from the Matara District in the Parliament of Sri Lanka until 2004.

He studied at the St Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia and graduated from the University of Ceylon. He joined the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) serving in many capacities before entering into politics after his retirement.

Ronnie de Mel presided over a most significant period of Sri Lankan history, under the leadership and guidance of President J. R. Jayewardene. "If not the free market economy we would still be having scarcities, queues and we would be struggling like North Korea today. It was because of this change that everything in this country blossomed and developed." He was instrumental in raising funds for projects such as Victoria, Randenigala, Kotmale, Ports, Roads, Housing and Free Trade Zones The minister also tried his utmost to curb the July 83 riots

He married Mallika Lakshmi de Mel née Fernando, daughter of Sir Leo Fernando.

See also

• List of political families in Sri Lanka