President Joe Biden nominated Ajay Banga, a former chief executive of Mastercard, as president of the World Bank. David Malpass, the previous head, resigned last week amid concerns that he did not take climate change seriously. The United States, the World Bank’s largest shareholder, is seeking to expand the bank’s operations to focus on combating global warming.
Mr. Malpass will step down as president of the World Bank by June, nearly a year before his five-year term ends. Appointed by the Trump administration, Mr. Malpass was criticized last autumn for initially refusing to state that human activity had contributed to global warming. United States treasury secretary recently demanded that the World Bank take “bolder and more imaginative” steps to tackle climate change.
In a statement on Tuesday, United States secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen said that she applauds President Biden’s decision to nominate Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank. She noted that Ajay is committed to the lender’s poverty reduction mission and lending reforms to fight climate change and other global challenges.
According to a Statement from President Biden, Mr. Ajay, who grew up in India, has a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing developing countries and how the World Bank can deliver on its ambitious agenda to reduce poverty and expand prosperity.
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