ZCZC
BCN-14
US-POVERTY-AID-WORLDBANK
World Bank says US official lone candidate for presidency
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The World Bank confirmed Thursday
that senior US Treasury official David Malpass was the lone candidate
nominated to take over the helm of the development aid institution.
Nominations closed Thursday morning, and the World Bank board said it will
conduct a formal interview and make a decision before the Spring meetings of
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which are to be held April
12-14.
The surprise early departure of World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on
February 1, not even halfway through his second five-year term, gave US
President Donald Trump the opportunity to put his stamp on the organization.
Malpass, a 62-year-old Treasury official in charge of international
affairs, has been a strident critic of the international financial
institutions, calling their lending practices “corrupt” and complaining about
aid to China and other relatively more well-off countries that he says should
have graduated from the institutions.
The World Bank has been led by American men since its founding in the
aftermath of World War II, while its sister institution, the IMF has always
been led by a European.
In recent years, the growing emerging market countries have challenged
this unwritten arrangement, demanding a more open, merit-based selection
process.
Any of the 189 members could nominate a candidate, but only once was a
non-American nominated to lead the bank.
The United States is the biggest World Bank shareholder but it does not
have a veto and needs the backing of European nations in a simple majority
vote by the board.
Experts have reasoned that Europe does not want to give up the leadership
of the IMF — where France’s Christine Lagarde is at the helm — and
therefore was not likely to support a rival candidate at the World Bank.
Many, including former Treasury officials from both political parties,
have sharply criticized Malpass and his qualifications, pointing to his
failure to foresee the global financial crisis and opposition, which later
proved unjustified, to Federal Reserve policies.
BSS/AFP/HR/1015