Did you know this about Gita Gopinath who has joined IMF as its 1st female chief economist?

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New Delhi,  Mysore-born Gita Gopinath has joined International Monetary Fund as its chief economist, becoming the first woman to occupy the top IMF post. Gopinath’s joined last week at a time, when she believes the world is experiencing a retreat from globalisation, posing challenges to multilateral institutions. Here are some facts about this pretty and suave economist:

1. The John Zwaanstra professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University, Gopinath, 47, succeeds Maurice (Maury) Obstfeld as Economic Counsellor and Director of the IMF’s Research Department. Obstfeld retired December 31.

2. Announcing her appointment on October 1, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde described her as “one of the world’s outstanding economists with impeccable academic credentials, a proven track record of intellectual leadership and extensive international experience.”

3. The 11th chief economist of the IMF, Gopinath in a recent interview to The Harvard Gazette described her appointment at the IMF as a “tremendous honour” and said the appointment of the first ever woman for this position speaks highly of IMF’s Managing Director Lagarde.”She is phenomenal, not just in her leadership of the IMF but as a role model for women around the world,” she said.

4. Identifying some of her top priorities at the IMF, Gopinath told The Harvard Gazette that she would like the IMF to continue to be a place that provides intellectual leadership on important policy questions.”Among the research issues that I would like to push, one would be understanding the role of dominant currencies like the dollar in international trade and finance. We could do more on the empirical side to try to understand countries’ dollar exposures and on the theoretical side in terms of the implications for international spillovers, consequences of dollar shortages, etc,” she said.

5. Gita Gopinath is an Indian-American economist who has studied at premier institutions like Lady Sri Ram College, Delhi School of Economics, Princeton University. She currently serves as the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. She is also the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University. Most countries invoice their trade in dollars and borrow internationally in dollars. This is a central part of the international price system and the international financial system and it will be exciting to explore its consequences in greater depth with the IMF, she said.Gopinath considers the perceived retreat from globalisation as one of the top challenges being faced by the IMF.

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