WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Gita Gopinath, the No. 2 official at the International Monetary Fund, will leave her post at the end of August to return to Harvard University, the IMF said in a statement on Monday.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva will name a successor to Gopinath in "due course," the IMF said.

Gopinath joined the fund in 2019 as chief economist - the first woman to serve in that role - and was promoted to the role of first deputy managing director in January 2022.