- Gita Gopinath, the First Deputy Managing Director, will leave the IMF to return to the Harvard Faculty of Economics.
Washington, DC, July 22, 2025 — Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced today that Gita Gopinath, First Deputy Managing Director, will leave the Fund at the end of August to return to Harvard University. There, she will assume the role of inaugural Gregory and Ania Coffey Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics. Ms. Gopinath joined the IMF in January 2019 as Chief Economist and was promoted to First Deputy Managing Director in January 2022.
In making the announcement, Ms. Georgieva stated, “Gita has been an outstanding colleague—an exceptional intellectual leader, dedicated to the mission and members of the Fund, and an excellent manager who genuinely cares about the professional growth and well-being of our staff. She joined the Fund as a highly respected academic in the fields of macroeconomics and international finance. Admiration for Gita only increased throughout her time at the Fund, where her analytical rigor was complemented by practical policy advice offered to our members during a particularly challenging period marked by the pandemic, wars, the cost-of-living crisis, and significant shifts in the global trading system.”
Ms. Georgieva stated: “Gita led the Fund’s analytical and policy initiatives with clarity, aiming for the highest standards of rigorous analysis during a complex period marked by high uncertainty and a rapidly changing global economic environment. She managed the Fund’s multilateral surveillance and analytical work related to fiscal and monetary policy, debt, and international trade. Gita made significant contributions to systemic country surveillance and the Fund’s country programs, including those for Argentina and Ukraine. As a key member of my senior leadership team, Gita represented the Fund with integrity and strength in various international forums, notably the G-7 and G-20.”
She also mentioned that Ms. Gopinath—the first female Chief Economist in the history of the IMF—has a unique combination of brilliance and humility that we all admire. “As Chief Economist, Gita ensured that the World Economic Outlook remained the leading report on the global economy, an awe-inspiring achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic, which posed unprecedented challenges for our members. Gita also led the Fund’s work on the Integrated Policy Framework (IPF), providing a comprehensive analytical framework to help countries identify the appropriate policies for macroeconomic and financial stability. Additionally, she co-authored the Pandemic Plan, outlining strategies to end the COVID-19 crisis—a significant intellectual contribution widely recognized for addressing a crucial global need by setting achievable vaccination targets for the world.”
Upon her departure, Ms. Gopinath stated, “I am truly grateful for my time at the IMF, first as Chief Economist and then as First Deputy Managing Director. I have had the privilege of working closely with the IMF’s talented and dedicated staff, management colleagues, the Executive Board, and representatives from various countries. I want to extend my special thanks to Kristalina and her predecessor, Christine Lagarde, for the unique opportunity to serve the IMF’s membership during a period of unprecedented challenges. I now return to my academic roots, where I look forward to continuing to advance research in international finance and macroeconomics to address global challenges, as well as training the next generation of economists.”
Managing Director Georgieva will announce a successor to Ms. Gopinath in due course.
Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF)
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