Who is Dr Indermit Gill, new VP of EFI at World Bank

The World Bank appointed an Indian national Dr Indermit Gill as the Vice President for the Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (EFI) Global Practice Group. Dr Gill has replaced M. Ahyan Kose and his appointment will be effective from June 1, 2021.

Dr Gill is currently Professor, Practice of Public Policy and Senior Research Scholar at the Centre for International and Global at the Duke University. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution.

The new VP's tryst with the Washington-based global lender is almost two decades old as he has held various important positions in the organization, including chief economist for Europe and Central Asia and staff director for the 2009 World Development Report on Economic Geography. Besides this, he is also the former economic advisor in the World Bank's East Asia and Pacific Regional Office and lead economist for human development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

His expertise includes debt management, creating sustainable growth and reducing poverty. Dr Gill was the pioneer of the concept of the "middle income trap". This concept is used to explain how developing countries can become sluggish after attaining a certain level of income.

Dr Indermit Gill, who has been appointed as the Vice President for the Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (EFI) Global Practice Group, is a graduate of St Stephens' College in Delhi. Dr Gill pursued his Bachelors in Economics from 1978-1981. This was followed by an MA at the Delhi School of Economics in 1985.  After this, Dr Gill went onto pursue PhD and AM in Economics from the University of Chicago. He has also taught at the Duke, Georgetown University, the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University of Chicago.

While announcing Gill's appointment the World Bank President David Malpass had said that due to his decades of practical experience of dealing with state government. Malpass added, "I am delighted to have Indermit Gill return to the World Bank in this important role."

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