IMF's Gita Gopinath relives college day memories at tea stall outside Delhi School of Economics

International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath took to X and shared a picture reminiscing her time at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.

She posted a picture along with a caption which read, "A walk down memory lane: Hanging out at the JP tea stall at my alma mater Delhi School of Economics @UnivofDelhi. Spent many hours at the tea stall back in the day. Thank you Prof. Ram Singh (Director of DSE) for inviting me back!"

Born on December 8, 1971, Gopinath is an Indian-American economist who had also served as the chief economist of IMF from 2019 to 2022.

After receiving a BA degree from the Lady Shri Ram College for Women at the Delhi University (DU) in 1992, Gopinath earned her MA degree in Economics at the Delhi School of Economics (DSE) from DU in 1994.

Gopinath also completed an MA degree at the University of Washington in 1996 and went on to earn her PhD in economics from Princeton University in 2001.

On Saturday, Gopinath at the DSE's Diamond Jubilee event, said that India has been a laggard among G20 nations in terms of employment generation and the country needs to create an additional 14.8 crore jobs by 2030 given the population growth.

She said India on an average grew at 6.6 per cent for the decade starting 2010 but the employment rate was under 2 per cent.

"If you look at India's projections in terms of population growth, India will have to create anywhere between 60 million to 148 million additional jobs cumulatively between now and 2030... we are already in 2024, so in a short period of time we have to create a lot of jobs," she said.

To generate more jobs, she said, there is a need for an increase in private investment as it is not commensurate with 7 per cent growth in GDP.

She also said that India should revamp its education system so that it can improve the skill set of its workforce.

(With PTI inputs)