IMF appoints chief economist Gita Gopinath as first deputy MD
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Omar Haddad
- . December 3, 2021
- . Update: December 4, 2021 2:52 pm
India–The IMF (International Monetary Fund) appointed its outgoing chief economist Gita Gopinath as its first Deputy Managing Director (FDMD) on Thursday. The economist, who hails from India’s Mysore, will replace Geoffrey Okamoto. Gita Gopinath will start her new position as FDMD on 21 January 2022 after current FDMD Geoffrey Okamoto leaves the Fund early next year.
However, Gita earlier decided to leave the IMF in January next year to return to her academic position at Harvard University. She wrote on Twitter about the news of becoming the FDMD of IMF. She wrote, “I am honored to become the IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director. With the pandemic, the work of the Fund has never been more important. I look forward to working with my brilliant colleagues to help our membership face these important challenges.”
IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that she is happy as Gita decided to stay and accept the new responsibility of being IMF’s FDMD. She further said that the pandemic has led to an increase in the scale and scope of the macroeconomic challenges facing member countries. Reportedly, Gita Gopinath was the first-ever woman chief economist of the International Monetary Fund.
Subsequently, Georgieva noted that Gopinath’s contribution to the Fund’s work has already been exceptional, Georgieva also talked about Gopinath’s leadership. She said, “Under Gopinath’s leadership, the IMF’s Research Department had gone from strength to strength, particularly highlighting its contributions in multilateral surveillance via The World Economic Outlook.”
Before joining as IMF’s FDMD, Gopinath was the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics, in the economics department of Harvard University. She was also the Economic Adviser to the Chief Minister of Kerala state in India, and a member of the Eminent Persons Advisory Group on G-20 Matters for India’s Ministry of Finance.
