Javier Milei and Luis Caputo
already know her: they met with her this year, on their trip to Davos.
But now
Gita Gopinath, the number two of the International Monetary Fund
, arrives this Wednesday as a surprise to
Buenos Aires for the first time
, to see with her own eyes how the President is carrying out the
reforms promised
to the organization.
Those that the president said are tougher than those that the IMF proposed.
"Gita"
, as everyone in Washington knows her, was the agency's chief economist for many years.
She at the time resigned to return to Harvard University, but Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the Fund, brought her back as her right-hand woman.
The Indian-American economist is now more involved in the
technical part of the programs
that the IMF undertakes with the countries, while her boss handles the political part.
He took over the position held by the American David Lipton when the loan granted to Argentina was negotiated in 2018.
His colleagues highlight his
intellectual rigor,
his enormous energy and the clear and confident way of presenting himself at press conferences, as in his classes at Harvard.
Gita Gopinath, was born in India 52 years ago. Those who work with her consider her
“a pragmatist who can adapt to any terrain.”
As Georgieva explained when she appointed her, “the pandemic has led to an increase in the scale and scope of the macroeconomic challenges facing our member countries, I believe that Gita,
universally recognized as one of the world's leading macroeconomists
, has precisely the experience what do we need".
The economist graduated in India, but
did her master's degree in the United States
, where she also obtained a doctorate from Princeton University.
For years she was a professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard, where she was on leave since 2019 when she was nominated Chief Economist of the Fund.
Gita Gopinath, in a red jacket, with Javier Milei, Kristalina Georgieva and officials, in Davos, last January.
Georgieva said she greatly valued "his good judgment, good advice and unwavering support."
When talking about Argentina, Gita left some definitions in the last meetings:
In the midst of the pandemic, the economist said: "Beyond short-term efforts to support the economy during the pandemic, measures could be considered to improve the country's fiscal position and to strengthen Argentina's productivity and generation capacity. Argentina
requires continued attention
to continue protecting macroeconomic stability, especially as the economy begins to recover.
In 2021, he said: "We see that
Argentina's inflation expectation is unanchored
, in part it is due to the dependence on monetary financing in Argentina," he said, referring to the fact that this indicator is not yet fixed and remains unstable.
l When Sergio Massa was in charge of Economy, the board insisted on the need to
reduce energy subsidies
to organize the fiscal accounts, now it will reach the country with the increase in rates for cuts in official aid beginning to be applied this month.
After meeting in Davos with Caputo and Chief of Staff Nicolás Posse, official sources indicated that Gopinath had expressed his "
enthusiasm with the changes that the Government is promoting
. In this sense, he highlighted
the importance of politics accompanying the measures
."
Now, the number two at the IMF will explore first-hand how reforms can continue after the fall of the Omnibus law.
The economist also traveled with Luis Cubeddu, the deputy director of the Department of the Western Hemisphere and who is at the helm of the negotiations with the Argentine government.
Gopinath will meet with Milei, with the Minister of Economy Luis Caputo, the president of the Central Bank Santiago Bausili and also with different civil society groups, so it is possible that she will see businessmen, union members and most likely members of the opposition.