Business
Obama to nominate Jim Yong Kim For World Bank top post
The officials requested anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president’s announcement.
Former President Bill Clinton also weighed in with support for Kim during Obama’s deliberations. In a statement, the former president applauded Kim’s nomination. “Jim Kim is an inspired and outstanding choice to lead the World Bank based on his years of commitment and leadership to development and particularly health care and AIDS treatment across the world,” he said.
Since its founding in 1944, the World Bank always has been headed by an American. Developing countries have long sought to gain more power in the World Bank as well as its sister lending organization, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which always has been headed by a European.
While U.S. and European officials have voiced support for the developing world’s efforts to expand their power, the status quo remains, with France’s Christine Lagarde holding the top spot at the IMF and Kim’s candidacy for World Bank president all but certain to prevail.
The actual selection will be made next month by the World Bank’s 25-member executive board. The United States, as the world’s largest economy, has the largest percentage of the votes.
Developing nations are expected to put forward as many as three candidates, including Jose Antonio Ocampo, a Columbia University professor who had been finance minister for Colombia, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s finance minister, who has the backing of the three African countries on the World Bank board.
Economist Jeffrey Sachs, the director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, has openly campaigned for the World Bank post, saying the position should be filled by an expert in development issues.
