Indian-origin economist Gita Gopinath was appointed the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday, becoming only the second Indian after Raghuram Rajan to hold the prestigious post. Rajan held the post from 2003 to 2006 before he joined the finance ministry as chief economic adviser and later the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Gopinath, 46, succeeds Maurice “Maury” Obstfeld. Gopinath currently serves as the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University.