Harvard economist Gita Gopinath has been appointed as the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She will be assuming the post of economic counsellor and director of the IMF’s Research Department. Gita will be succeeding Maurice Obstfeld, who had announced earlier this year that he will be retiring at the end of 2018.
Gita is the second Indian after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to hold the position. In a press statement released by the IMF chief Christian Lagarde said, "Gita is one of the world’s outstanding economists, with impeccable academic credentials, a proven track record of intellectual leadership, and extensive international experience".
At present, Gita is the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University. She is the third woman and the second Indian after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to be made a permanent member of the economics department at Harvard. She is the co-editor of the American Economic Review and co-director of the International Finance and Macroeconomics Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Gita has authored some 40 research articles on exchange rates, trade and investment, international financial crises, monetary policy, debt and emerging market crises. She was born in Kolkata in 1971. She is a US citizen and an Overseas Citizen of India. She has received a BA from Lady Shriram College (University of Delhi), a double master's degree from the Delhi School of Economics and the University of Washington. Gita also completed her PhD from Princeton University in 2001.
Her husband Iqbal Singh Dhaliwal is executive director at Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
