- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The World Bank’s executive board comprising 25 members on Wednesday (3) elected Ajay Banga to a five-year term as the institution’s president, effective June 2, Reuters reported.
Banga, the Indian-born former chief executive officer of Mastercard, will undertake the challenge of revamping the lender to tackle a number of global crises, including climate change.
The 63-year-old finance and development expert was nominated to the top position by US president Joe Biden in late February and he was the only contender to replace his predecessor David Malpass, a former US treasury official in the previous Donald Trump administration. His last day at the bank will be on June 1.
Banga’s election came after the World Bank’s board members interviewed him for four hours on Monday (1). The decision came in a vote by 24 of the members instead of a the usual consensus-based process, informed sources told the news outlet. Russia abstained from voting, they added.
Sources familiar with the process had expected Banga to win the board’s approval comfortably after several meetings held with its members in recent weeks and during Monday’s interview.
One of the sources described Banga as a “true change maker” who will help accelerate reforms at the global bank.
“The board looks forward to working with Mr. Banga on the World Bank Group Evolution process, as discussed at the April 2023 Spring Meetings, and on all the World Bank Group’s ambitions and efforts aimed at tackling the toughest development challenges facing developing countries,” the bank was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Last month, US treasury secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters that attracting more private capital for development goals would be a key area of focus for the Indian-origin finance expert if he gets the nod.
Banga has been a US citizen since 2007.
