In a first-ever, International Monetary Fund (IMF) will have two women holding the top positions as Gita Gopinath succeeds Geoffrey Okamoto as first deputy managing director, and will be serving under IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva. The IMF’s current chief economist will take up the new role of number two official next month at the Washington-based crisis fund lender.
The move has been called by Georgieva as being “the right person at the right time” taking up the role. He said that at the time of the pandemic, an increase in scope and scale of macroeconomic challenges have been seen in many member countries of IMF around the world. At this point, Gopinath-who is a recognized expert on macroeconomics globally, is what is needed for the role of first deputy managing director. Given her skills and experience as the chief economist of the fund since her appointment in October 2018, she is uniquely qualified for the position.
Earlier, Gopinath was due to resign from IMF and return to her position at Harvard, but now she will be leaving her role at the University. An Indian born-US citizen, Gopinath leads the IMF team that produces the quarterly World Economic Outlook, which is closely watched by the members and has become much more important given the impacts of Covid pandemic and lockdowns had on economies at the national level and internationally.
The economist had displayed “intellectual leadership in navigating the twists and turns of the worst economic crisis of the times, helping the global economy as well as the Fund, Georgieva said.
Gopinath, in a statement, says that given the pandemic situation and the effect it has on the economy as a whole on all levels, the functions and work of the Fund are the most critical along with the need for international cooperation.