Gita Gopinath tries the world’s smelliest fruit. Her review

Gita Gopinath, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, is currently in Singapore for her first visit to the country.

Besides meeting officials and getting to know the IMF team in Singapore, Gopinath also made time for some typically touristy things – like visiting the hawker centres of Singapore and trying durian, widely accepted as the world’s smelliest fruit.

In a Twitter post shared Saturday, Gopinath, 50, attempted to describe the taste of durian. “My first visit to Singapore, trying out the native fruit Durian (tastes like a mix of jackfruit and avocado). Very unique,” she wrote, adding “The hawker centers are quite something.”
Durian is distinctive for its large size and pungent odour. This fruit is native to Southeast Asia. Its smell is so unpleasant to some that certain establishments have banned the use or entry of durian.

Gita Gopinath also took part in several meetings in Singapore. She met with senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Ravi Menon and othee IMF team members.
Gopinath served as chief economist of the International Monetary Fund between 2019 and 2022, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She currently serves as the Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, a position she has held since January 2022.

Born in Kolkata, Gopinath received her BA from Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College and MA from Delhi School of Economics. She earned her PhD in economics from the prestigious Princeton University.