Gita Gopinath, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is once again in the news. The IMF has drastically reduced the estimate of growth in the Indian economy. In a special conversation with India Today news director Rahul Kanwal during the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said that India is responsible for 80% decline in global growth estimates.
Citing this statement of Gita Gopinath, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and former Minister Kapil Sibal have taunted the Modi government. Let's know who is Gita Gopinath…
In October last year, Gita Gopinath was made the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He held this position from January 1, 2019. She is the first woman to handle this responsibility.
She has been given the responsibility of the Chief Economic Advisor of this financial organization at a time when the train of economic globalization is turning in the opposite direction and it also poses challenges for multilateral institutions.
47-year-old Geeta Gopinath has been teaching economics at Harvard University. She replaced Maurice Obstfeld at IAMF, who retired on 31 December. She has been appointed Chief Economist of the Monetary Fund and Director of its Research Department.
Announcing her appointment on 1 October 2018, the then Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, described Gita Gopinath as one of the world's unique and experienced economists. She said that Geeta is a role model for women in the world. She is the 11th Chief Economist of the IMF. Gita Gopinath has also been a renowned educationist and economic advisor to the Government of Kerala.
She recently termed her appointment as a great honor in a conversation with Harvard Gazette. In this conversation, she said that one of the issues she would like to research is also what the role of US-dominated currencies is in international trade and finance.
Study from Delhi to Harvard
Indian-origin Gita Gopinath was born on 8 December 1971 in Kolkata, but her initial education was from Nirmala Convent School in Mysore (Karnataka). Her parents originally lived in Kannur, Kerala.
Gopinath holds an MA degree from Delhi School of Economics and University of Washington. She has been a professor of international studies and economics at Harvard University. Prior to that, she was an assistant professor at the University of Chicago. She received her Bachelor's degree from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi.
She has also been included as a distinguished member in the G20 Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Finance, India. She received her PhD in Economics from Princeton University in the year 2001 from research done on International Comprehensive Economics and Business.
Gita's husband's name is Iqbal Dhaliwal, a graduate in economics and a 1995 batch IAS topper. Iqbal left the IAS job and went to Princeton to study. The family of Gita's husband and a son currently live in Cambridge (UK).
Has been a bitter critic of Demonetisation
A statement by Gopinath was in the news after being elected to the post of IMF's supreme economist. At one time she strongly criticized demonetization in India. Those things of her are now going viral. In an interview, Gopinath said that no big economist can justify demonetization. Gopinath also said that all cash is neither black money nor corruption.
Gopinath also said that demonetization is a very tough decision for a developing country. It is dangerous as well as harmful which can cause permanent damage in some sectors.
