Jayamaha was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and received a BA in Banking from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 1970, a Masters in Economics from the University of Stirling, UK in 1976 and a PhD in Monetary Economics from the University of Bradford, UK in 1989 [REF].
In November 2012, the University of Stirling recognized Jayamaha with the degree of Doctor of the University (DUniv)[REF][REF] in recognition of her career as one of the University's first masters graduates in economics and as a person of distinction in the fields of Economics, Banking and Public Affairs.