IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath to return to Harvard University

Harvard University had extended Gopinath's leave of absence on an exceptional basis by one year, which has allowed her to serve as Chief Economist at the IMF for three years, International Monetary Fund informed in a statement.

In announcing Gopinath intention to retire from the Fund, Georgieva stated that "Gita's contribution to the Fund and our membership has been truly remarkable quite simply, her impact on the IMF's work has been tremendous".

"She made history as the first female Chief Economist of the Fund and we benefitted immensely from her sharp intellect and deep knowledge of international finance and macroeconomics as we navigate through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression," Georgieva added.

As part of her many significant initiatives, Gopinath co-authored the "Pandemic Paper" on how to end the COVID-19 pandemic that set globally endorsed targets for vaccinating the world, International Monetary Fund said in a statement.

This work led to the creation of the Multilateral Task Force made up of the leadership of the IMF, World Bank, WTO, and WHO to help end the pandemic and the establishment of a working group with vaccine manufacturers to identify trade barriers, supply bottlenecks, and accelerate delivery of vaccines to low- and lower-middle-income countries.

A US national and overseas citizen of India, Gopinath'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.