Geeta Gopinath to be IMF's first Dy MD

Gita Gopinath, an Indian American economist serving as the first female Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2019, is all set to take on the role of new first deputy managing director from January 21, 2022. With her promotion to the number two position, Gopinath will be succeeding Geoffrey Okamoto to become the first Indian to hold the spot.

"I am honoured to become the IMF's first deputy MD. With the pandemic, the work of the Fund has never been more important. I look forward to help our membership face these important challenges," she said in her first statement.

In June 2021, Gopinath was appointed to the World Bank–IMF High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth. She was named in top 25 economists under 45 by the IMF in 2014 and was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011. In 2019, she was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the President of India.