Gita Gopinath becomes first woman and second Indian to feature on IMF's 'wall of former chief economists'

India-born Gita Gopinath became the first woman and second Indian to feature on the 'wall of former chief economists' of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The first Indian to achieve the honour was Raghuram Rajan who was Chief Economist and Director of Research of IMF between 2003 and 2006.

Gita was appointed as IMF Chief Economist in October 2018 and was later promoted as the IMF's First Deputy Managing Director in December last year.

"Breaking the trend I joined the wall of former Chief Economists of the IMF," she said in a tweet, which also displayed the wall of former chief economists with her photograph.

Gita had served as the first female chief economist of the Washington-based global lender for three years.

Gita's research has been published in many top economics journals. Prior to her appointment as IMF Chief Economist, she was the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics in the economics department of Harvard University.

Before joining the faculty of Harvard University in 2005, she was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

Hailing from Kannur, Kerala, Gita did her bachelor's from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi, and pursued her master's from the Delhi School of Economics and the University of Washington. She holds a PhD in Economics from Princeton University.

With expertise in International Finance and Macroeconomics, Gita is the co-editor of the current Handbook of International Economics. Notably, she is also the co-editor of American Economic Review, managing editor of the Review of Economic Studies, and co-director of the International Finance and Macroeconomics programme at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The economist referred to the recession caused by the pandemic as ‘The Great Lockdown’ while speaking to Trevor Noah on The Daily Social Distancing Show in April 2020. At the time, Gita said that over 90 countries had reached out to the IMF to discuss financial assistance.

(Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)