International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde appointed Gita Gopinath on Monday as Economic Counsellor and Director of the IMF’s Research Department. She is now the second Indian after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to hold the position.
Gopinath, 46, will succeed Maurice (Maury) Obstfeld, who announced in July that he would retire at the end of 2018. She currently serves as the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University.
In June 2011, Christine Lagarde had come to India seeking support in her bid to take over from Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the managing director of the IMF. At the time, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations were keen on seeing an IMF leader from the developing world, a break from tradition where Europeans have always been appointed to lead the Bretton Woods Institutions. The selection process has often been criticised, because a handful of developed nations control more than half the votes with the United States enjoying veto power. Lagarde had said that she would press ahead with reforms to increase the representation of emerging economies within the IMF.
“Gita is one of the world’s outstanding economists, with impeccable academic credentials, a proven track record of intellectual leadership, and extensive international experience,” Lagarde said. “All this makes her exceptionally well-placed to lead our Research Department at this important juncture. I am delighted to name such a talented figure as our Chief Economist.”
Gita Gopinath has served as a member of the Eminent Persons Advisory Group on G-20 Matters for India’s Ministry of Finance. She also serves as the Economic Adviser to the Chief Minister of Kerala. Gita is co-editor of the American Economic Review and co-director of the International Finance and Macroeconomics Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). She is co-editor of the current Handbook of International Economics with Former IMF Economic Counsellor Kenneth Rogoff. She has authored some 40 research articles on exchange rates, trade and investment, international financial crises, monetary policy, debt, and emerging market crises.
Gita was born in Mysuru, Karnataka, India as the younger of two daughters of TV Gopinath and VC Vijayalakshmi, both hailing from Kannur district in Kerala. Her father is the son of TC Govindan Nambiar, a relative of noted Communist party leader TC Narayanan Nambiar, and PV Lakshmi Amma, who is related to stalwart of Indian Communist party A.K. Gopalan.
Gopinath is a U.S citizen and an Overseas Citizen of India. Her husband Iqbal Singh Dhaliwal is Executive Director at Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She received her Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 2001 after earning a B.A. from the University of Delhi and M.A. degrees from both the Delhi School of Economics and University of Washington. She joined the University of Chicago in 2001 as an Assistant Professor before moving to Harvard in 2005. She became a tenured Professor there in 2010, becoming the first Indian born woman to get tenure in Economics department of Harvard University after Amartya Sen.
