The CPI (M) led LDF government in Kerala has appointed noted economist Gita Gopinath as financial advisor to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
- Gita Gopinath is a professor at Harvard University and the head of its Economics department. She teaches International Finance and Foundations of International Macroeconomic Policy. She is also the managing editor of the Review of Economic Studies. She was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011.
- The 44-year-old was born to TV Gopinath, a farmer and entrepreneur, and VC Vijayalakshmi from Kannur. She lives in Weston, Massachusetts, with her husband and son.
- Speaking to The Economic Times in 2010, Gita Gopinath had said, "When I was doing my bachelors from Delhi University, India experienced its first major external financing and currency crisis in 1990-91. This inspired me to pursue graduate work in economics and was the foundation for my interest in international finance.”
- Among the several positions that she holds are Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research and Research Program Member at the International Growth Center at LSE (London School of Economics) and Oxford. She also served as a member of the Eminent Persons Advisory Group on G-20 Matters for the Finance ministry.
- While she completed her Bachelors in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi, she did her Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics and University of Washington. She went on to pursue her Doctorate in the subject from Princeton University.
- In 2010, she was appointed as a permanent professor at Harvard University's Economics department. This made her the “third woman ever and the first Indian after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to receive such an outstanding honour”, reported The Economic Times.