David Malpass said Wednesday that he’s stepping down by the end of June as president of the World Bank, giving the Biden administration an opportunity to choose the next head of the international financial institution.
Malpass, an appointee of President Donald Trump, is stepping down about a year before his five-year term expires, amid signs of discontent from the U.S., which is the bank’s largest shareholder.
“It has been an enormous honor and privilege to serve as President of the world’s premier development institution alongside so many talented and exceptional people,” Malpass said, in a statement.
“The last four years have been some of the most meaningful of my career. Having made much progress, and after a good deal of thought, I’ve decided to pursue new challenges,” he added.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, for example, last week deepened a call for changes at the World Bank, as Bloomberg reported, urging it to more aggressively extend its balance sheet and work harder at mobilizing private-sector money to help address issues like climate change.
Also read: Embattled World Bank head Malpass says he should have made it clear that he’s not ‘a climate-change denier’
Under a controversial informal understanding, the head of the World Bank has been chosen by the U.S., while the head of the International Monetary Fund, is nominated by Europe.
“We will put forward a candidate to lead the World Bank and build on the Bank’s longstanding work to fight extreme poverty, promote shared prosperity, and who will carry forward the vital work we are undertaking to evolve the multilateral development banks to better meet the challenges of the 21st century,” Yellen said in a statement.
Credit: marketwatch.com