Gita Gopinath (born 8 December 1971)[1] is an Indian-American economist who has served as the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), since 21 January 2022.

Gita Gopinath was born on December 8, 1971, in Kolkata, India in a Malayali Hindu family from Kannur, Kerala.

She earned her Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 2001 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "Three essays on international capital flows: a search theoretic approach", under the supervision of Ben Bernanke, Kenneth Rogoff, and Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas.

Gopinath had been earlier scheduled to return to her academic position at Harvard University in January 2022 on completion of her term as chief economist.

[14] Kristalina Georgieva added that "given that the pandemic has led to an increase in the scale and scope of the macroeconomic challenges facing our member countries, Gita—universally recognized as one of the world's leading macroeconomists—has precisely the expertise that we need for the FDMD role at this point.

"[15] As the first deputy managing director of the IMF, Gopinath represents the fund at multilateral forums, maintains high-level contacts with member governments and board members, the media, and other institutions, leads the fund's work on surveillance and related policies, oversees research, and flagship publications and the work of senior staff.

[17] In June 2021, Gopinath was appointed to the World Bank–International Monetary Fund High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth, co-chaired by Mari Pangestu, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, and Nicholas Stern.

[18] Gopinath was named one of the top 25 economists under 45 by the International Monetary Fund in 2014 and was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011.

[19] In April 2018, Gopinath was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University and the Econometric Society in November.