By Andrea Shalal
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday nominated Indian-American business executive Ajay Banga to become president of the World Bank, lauding his experience forging public-private partnerships to address financial inclusion and climate change.
The World Bank on Wednesday said it expects to select a new president by early May to replace David Malpass, who announced his resignation last week. Banga’s nomination by the United States all but assures he will assume a job that oversees billions of dollars of funding as the institution embarks on a major series of reforms to better respond to climate change and other pressing challenges facing developing countries.
“Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history,” Biden said in a statement. “He has spent more than three decades building and managing successful, global companies that create jobs and bring investment to developing economies, and guiding organizations through periods of fundamental change.”
Biden also singled out Banga’s experience mobilizing public-private resources to tackle urgent challenges such as climate change at a range of organizations.
The bank has historically been headed by someone from the United States, its largest shareholder, while a European heads the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but developing countries and emerging markets have pushed to widen those choices.
Banga’s nomination is the first to be made public, but the bank will accept nominations from other member countries through March 29. Germany, another major shareholder, this week said the job should go to a woman since the bank has never been headed by a woman in its 77-year history.
Source: Reuters
