Gita Gopinath To Be IMF's New First Deputy Managing Director

New Delhi: The Chief Economist of International Monetary Fund -- Gita Gopinath -- has been promoted as IMF's First Deputy Managing Director, the organisation announced on Thursday.

She will replace Geoffrey Okamoto who plans to leave the Fund early next year.

"Both Geoffrey and Gita are tremendous colleagues—I am sad to see Geoffrey go but, at the same time, I am delighted that Gita has decided to stay and accept the new responsibility of being our FDMD." (Ms. Gopinath had been scheduled to return to her academic position at Harvard University in January 2022),'' Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF's Managing Director said.

Ms. Georgieva noted that Ms. Gopinath's contribution to the Fund's work has already been 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."

She also further added that Ms. Gopinath—the first female Chief Economist in IMF history—has garnered respect and admiration across our member countries and the institution, with a proven track record in leading analytically rigorous work on a broad range of issues.

Ms. Georgieva observed that under Ms. 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, a new analytical approach to help countries respond to international capital flows (the integrated policy framework), and Ms. Gopinath's recent work on a Pandemic Plan to end the COVID-19 crisis by setting targets to vaccinate the world at feasible cost.

''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," Ms. Gopinath said.

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