US President Donald Trump yesterday proposed 62-year-old economist David Malpass as the new president of the World Bank. Malpass, previously Secretary of State in the US Treasury Department, is scheduled to replace Jim Yong Kim, who unexpectedly resigned from office at the head of the organization in January. Lastly, the World Bank’s committees, which include 189 member countries, primarily support poverty alleviation projects.
Traditionally, the US is the president of the World Bank, while the sister organization, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is run by a European or a European. Currently, there is the French Christine Lagarde at the top. However, there had recently been loud calls for a reform of this regulation. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin led the US-internal selection process together with presidential daughter Ivanka Trump, it was said from the White House.
Criticism of China
Malpass had been critical of multilateral organizations in the past. Among other things, he is also critical of China and its infrastructure initiative („Silk Road Initiative“). In China, it is feared that World Bank lending will be less favorable to Beijing-dominated projects in developing countries.
