IMF chief economist Gopinath to leave in January 2022

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath will leave her post in January and return to Harvard University, according to a statement by the organization.

Gopinath, who is also the director of the research department, served as the first female chief economist at the IMF for three years after Harvard extended her leave of absence on an exceptional basis for one year, it said Tuesday.

"Gita’s contribution to the Fund and our membership has been truly remarkable ... 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," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in the statement.

After joining the IMF in October 2018, Gopinath co-authored the Pandemic Paper that focused on how to end the coronavirus pandemic, which led to the creation of the Multilateral Task Force to identify trade barriers, supply bottlenecks and accelerate delivery of vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

Her research included $50 billion to end the pandemic by vaccinating at least 40% of the world's population by the end of 2021, which was later supported by the World Bank, World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization.

Gopinath's leave comes after the IMF executive board last week cleared Georgieva of wrongdoing amid allegations that she pressured World Bank staff to manipulate data to benefit China during her previous role as the World Bank CEO from January 2017 to September 2019.