The pandemic offers an opportunity to build fairer societies and economies by investing in people: IMF's Kalpana Kochhar

The pandemic is likely to increase poverty and inequality, further painfully exposing the precariousness of work and the challenging prospects for the young of accessing opportunities they desperately need, says Kalpana Kochhar, Director, Human Resources Department, IMF, in an interaction with People Matters

- Mastufa Ahmed

Kalpana Kochhar was appointed Director of the Human Resources Department (HRD) at the International Monetary Fund in June 2016. Prior to that, she was Deputy Director in the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department. Between 2012 and 2014, she was Deputy Director in the IMF's Strategy, Policy and Review Department.

Before starting her career at the IMF, Kochhar was Assistant Professor at the George Washington University. She then joined the IMF’s Economist Program in 1988, assigned to the Asia and Pacific Department (APD). She worked on various country assignments in APD for six years before moving to the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department (SPR). In 1997, she returned to APD, where she was promoted to Assistant Director in 2003. While in APD, she led work on Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, and Nepal, and has also covered China, Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

In 2004, Kochhar moved to the IMF’s Research Department (RES) as a Senior Advisor, working closely with then Chief Economist Raghu Rajan, before returning to APD in 2008. In 2010, she left the IMF to join the World Bank as Chief Economist for the South Asia Region. She returned to the Fund in 2012, joining SPR as Deputy Director to lead work on the Triennial Surveillance Review, and then moved back to APD in 2014.

Kochhar also has extensive institutional experience. She served as Senior Personnel Manager in RES for two years, and again in APD during the downsizing of the IMF in 2006–08. She is currently a member of the Diversity Council, and also serves on the personnel Review Committee— appointments she also held before her move to the World Bank.