US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US intends to “quickly” nominate a candidate to lead the World Bank, who will help push reforms to expand the lender’s balance sheet and tackle global issues like climate change.
(Bloomberg) — US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US intends to “quickly” nominate a candidate to lead the World Bank, who will help push reforms to expand the lender’s balance sheet and tackle global issues like climate change.
“We intend to quickly put forward a well-qualified candidate,” she said Thursday during a briefing in Bengaluru, India, where she’s attending the Group of 20 finance ministry and central bank chiefs meetings. “Stay tuned.”
The US is the bank’s largest shareholder and its candidate traditionally wins the top spot. The official nomination process to replace current President David Malpass opens Thursday, and a final selection isn’t expected until early May, the executive board said this week.
Read more: World Bank Opens Nominations for Malpass Successor Thursday
The early departure of Malpass, who was tapped in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump, has opened up the possibility for President Joe Biden and Yellen to appoint a new leader who can further overhaul the lender.
Yellen has been supportive of reforming the institution to tackle global and transnational issues, particularly climate change and public heath, and expand its capital adequacy, allowing it to share more funds and take on more risk, all while continuing its traditional role of poverty reduction.
The US candidate will be “committed to the kind of reform process that we’re going to see the bank engage in,” Yellen said.
It will be “someone who shares a commitment to the bank’s own standard of work to fight extreme poverty and promote prosperity, and will also work to take addressing global challenges like preparing for future pandemics and addressing climate change,” Yellen said.
–With assistance from Ruchi Bhatia, Michelle Jamrisko and Clarissa Batino.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.