World Bank (WB) President David Malpass on Wednesday notified the organization’s Board of Directors of his intention to step down from office before June 30.
“This afternoon I met with the Board of Directors of the World Bank Group and informed them of my intention to leave on June 30 of this fiscal year. It has been an honor and privilege to be president of the World Bank,” Malpass wrote in his twitter account.
In a statement from WB, Malpass himself explains that he “wants to take on new challenges”. Nominated by former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021), he has held the position since April 2019.
“It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve as president of the world’s leading development institution alongside so many talented and exceptional people,” Malpass said in a statement on the bank’s website.
The past four years, he explains, “have been some of the most important of my career,” during which “I’ve made a lot of progress,” he says. “After thinking about it a lot, I decided to take on new challenges,” adds the American economist (Michigan, 1956).
In the message, he thanked the development bank’s staff and its board of directors for “the privilege of working with them every day to strengthen the effectiveness of our operations in the most difficult moments.”
Malpass will step down on June 30 and expects “a smooth transition of leadership” as the World Bank works “to meet growing global challenges and facilitate private investment”.
Malpass’s role was called into question after he repeatedly avoided answering during a panel discussion last September whether he recognized the scientific consensus that humans burning fossil fuels are “rapidly and dangerously warming the planet.”
“I don’t even know, I’m not a scientist and that’s not a question,” he said at a New York Times rally during Climate Week in New York, a response that led some climate activists to call for his resignation.
Malpass later acknowledged that his words were unfortunate and that when asked if he was a climate change denier, he should have said a firm “no”.
The economist also caused controversy after reaching the post, as before that he was notable for his criticism of that institution, for example claiming that the only ones who benefit from their appropriations are those who fly first class “to advise governments”.
Source: El heraldo
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
