Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: United States President Joe Biden nominated former Mastercard Inc CEO Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank, betting the India-born executive’s relations to the private sector and emerging markets would jump-start the 77-year-old institution’s overhaul to address climate change better.
Biden’s nomination of Banga, 63, now a United States citizen, would assume the job that oversees billions of dollars of funding as it races to help developing nations address climate change.
World Bank’s stance
The World Bank on Wednesday said that it expects to select a new president by early May to replace David Malpass, who announced his resignation the previous week after months of controversy sparked by his initial refusal to say if he has accepted the scientific consensus on climate swap, and pressure by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for him to adopt “bolder” reform.
“I think the speed of the nomination, less than the 48 hours after the World Bank board launched the process, reflects the desire to discourage any challengers and wrap it up quickly,” said Scott Morris, the senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a former United States Treasury official.
Biden noted Banga’s decades of experience building world companies and public-private partnerships to fund responses to climate change and migration and said he had a proven track record working with world leaders.
“Ajay uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history,” Biden said, hailing the business executive’s Indian roots and knowledge of developing nations’ challenges and ability to mobilize private capital to tackle big problems.
