Washington (AFP)
The chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Gita Gopinath, will leave the institution next January to return to his post in the economics department of Harvard University, the Fund said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Harvard University had extended Ms. Gopinath's leave for one year on an exceptional basis, which allowed her to occupy the post of chief economist at the IMF for three years," the IMF explained.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Gita Gopinath's "contribution" was "remarkable".
"Its impact on the work of the IMF has been enormous," she added, quoted in the statement.
Gita Gopinath, 49, made history as the Fund's first female chief economist.
She was born and raised in India, before completing her studies in the United States, where she acquired American citizenship.
"We have benefited enormously from his keen intelligence and his in-depth knowledge of international finance and macroeconomics as we go through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression," Georgieva also responded.
Gita Gopinath is notably co-author of the "Pandemic Paper" report on how to end the Covid-19 pandemic by setting vaccination targets on a global scale, recalls the IMF.
"This work led to the establishment of the Multilateral Task Force comprised of the leaders of the IMF, World Bank, WTO and WHO to help end the pandemic and the establishment of a working with vaccine manufacturers to identify trade barriers, bottlenecks, and accelerate vaccine delivery to low- and lower-middle-income countries, ”he explained.
Gita Gopinath also contributed to the establishment of a team on climate change within the IMF with the objective of analyzing "optimal policies for climate change mitigation".
The search for his successor "will start soon", finally indicated the IMF.
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