WASHINGTON, May 4 (PTI): Ajay Banga will be a “transformative leader”, who will bring expertise, experience, and innovation to the position of World Bank President, US President Joe Biden has said after the top Indian-American business executive was confirmed as the new head of the international lender.
The Executive Directors of the World Bank on Wednesday selected Banga as the 14th President of the bank for a five-year term beginning June 2. He became the first-ever Indian-American to head the Washington-based bank and will replace David Malpass.
In February, President Biden announced that the US would nominate Banga, 63, to lead the World Bank because he is “well equipped” to lead the global institution at “this critical moment in history.”
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“Ajay Banga will be a transformative leader, bringing expertise, experience, and innovation to the position of World Bank President. And together with World Bank leadership and shareholders, he will help steer the institution as it evolves and expands to address global challenges that directly affect its core mission of poverty reduction — including climate change,” Biden said on Wednesday.
“Ajay will also be integral in bringing together the public and private sectors, alongside philanthropies, to usher in the fundamental changes in development finance that this moment requires,” said the president congratulating his nominee for the next President of the World Bank on his resounding approval by the Bank’s Board of Governors.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Banga will play a critical role in undertaking a vital effort to evolve the World Bank and other multilateral development banks to redouble their work on global challenges like climate change in a way that accelerates progress on national development priorities.
“His track record of forging partnerships between the public sector, private sector, and non-profits uniquely equips him to help mobilise private capital and press for the reforms needed to meet our shared ambitions. In doing so, the World Bank can serve as a force multiplier for good by setting the right agenda and catalysing action from across the spectrum,” she said.
After he was nominated for this position, Banga, who worked at Nestle and Citigroup before joining Mastercard, spent the last couple of months travelling around the world, including India, and meeting with governments from the World Bank’s diverse shareholder base and stakeholders from both the private and philanthropic sectors.
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also congratulated Banga on his appointment.
“Hearty congratulations Ajay Banga on being selected as the President of @WorldBank,” she tweeted on Thursday.
“I am confident that you’ll bring your wide experience in the corporate world for meeting the goals of the Bank,” the minister tweeted from Incheon, South Korea, where she is attending the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting.
