Chief Economist Gita Gopinath will Soon Become the First Managing Director of the IMF

Indian American Gita Gopinath the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund is being promoted to IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director. 

She’ll be replacing First Deputy Managing Director Geoffrey Okamoto in early 2022. 

Gita Gopinath served her position in IMF for three years; the first woman to hold the position in IMF’s history. 

Kristalina Georgieva, IMF’s managing director praised Gopinath for her “intellectual leadership” and exceptional work in IMF.  She said that Gopinath helped them navigate twists and turns during the worst economic crisis. 

“As the pandemic continues its grip on us, the work of the Fund has never been more critical and international cooperation never more important. I am very thankful to Kristalina and the Board for this opportunity, and so look forward to collaborating closely with all the incredibly brilliant and committed colleagues at the Fund, working with whom has been an absolute privilege,” Gopinath thanked her team at IMF. 

Gita Gopinath was born in Kolkata, West Bengal although she was raised in Mysuru, Karnataka. 

Speaking to the Week in 2018 Gita Gopinath’s father Mr TV Gopinath said, “The girl who used to score 45 per cent till class seven, started scoring 90 per cent. I never asked my kids to study and had not put any restrictions on them. Their friends came home, stayed over to study and play. Till SSLC, both my girls used to go to bed by 7.30pm and wake up early.”

She studied in Nirmala Convent School in Mysore. 

“After school, Gita joined Mahajana PU College in Mysuru, and pursued science. Later, though her marks were good enough for engineering and medicine, she decided to do a BA (Hons) in economics,” he father added. 

Gopinath graduated from Lady Shriram College in 1992. She completed her M.A. degree in economics from Delhi School of economics. She further completed an M.A. degree at the University of Washington in 1996. She got her Ph.D in economics from Princeton University in 2001. 

She was named one of the top 25 economists under 45 by the IMF and in 2011 she was chosen a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum.  She has worked as the Economic Adviser to the Chief Minister of Kerala. 

Gita is married to Iqbal Dhaliwal the Global Executive Director at Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. They have a son named Rohli. 

She has also been awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians, by the Indian government. 

In an interview with Vogue in 2020, Gita Gopinath admitted that there have been numerous sleepless nights during the pandemic economic crisis. 

“It helps that I’m a workaholic and I get energy from work”, she remarked in jest.