Gita Gopinath's work to help nations with funds to fight COVID-19 has been praised widely
Indian-American Gita Gopinath, Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund, has been promoted as its First Deputy Managing Director, or FDMD, after the current FDMD Geoffrey Okamoto announced she will leave early next year.
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Ms Gopinath has served as the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, Chief Economist for three years. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, praised Ms Gopinath's contribution to the IMF as exceptional, especially her "intellectual leadership in helping the global economy and the Fund to navigate the twists and turns of the worst economic crisis of our lives."
Ms Gopinath - the first woman Chief Economist at the IMF - has earned respect and admiration across member countries and the institution with a proven track record in leading analytically rigorous work on a broad range of issues, the IMD Managing Director said.
Under Ms Gopinath's leadership, the IMF's Research Department has gone from "strength to strength", and notably her recent work on a plan to end the COVID-19 crisis by setting targets to vaccinate the world at a feasible cost, Ms Georgieva said.
Given the increasingly complex policy choices and difficult trade-offs facing the IMF's 190 member countries - exacerbated by the pandemic - some realignment in the roles and responsibilities of the IMF's senior management team is being undertaken.
In particular, Ms Gopinath will take the lead on surveillance and related policies, oversee research and flagship publications and help foster the highest quality standards for IMF publications, the global body's Managing Director said.
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