Dr. Nimal Sandaratne, the Chairman of the National Development Bank (NDB) whose term of office ends at the end of next month has indicated to government that he will not be available for re-appointment.

Dr. Sandaratne, who is a former senior Central Bank officer who has served as Director of Economic Research was also Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon some time ago. Sources close to him said that he intends going into academia teaching agricultural economics at Peradeniya.

No successor to him at the NDB has yet been identified. With the sale of the government-held shares in the bank following early conversion of debentures, the government stake in the NDB has been substantially lowered and Dr. Sandaratne was the only government appointed director of the bank.