Ajay Banga’s credibility will overcome World Bank selection criticism: US

Bengaluru:

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Saturday she believed the strong qualifications of the US candidate to lead the World Bank, former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga, would outweigh any criticism of the selection process.

In an interview, Yellen reaffirmed her support for the longstanding tradition of the United States choosing the head of the World Bank and Europe choosing the head of the International Monetary Fund.

But she said that privilege comes with the responsibility of “nominating the strongest possible candidate” for the job.

“We take this very seriously and have tried to identify a candidate who we believe brings the right skill set for this job,” Yellen said. “And we hope that our candidate will be widely accepted in both the lending countries and the borrowing countries.”

Yellen said she is pleased so far with positive reviews from G20 finance officials for 63-year-old Banga, an Indian-American who has won praise for transforming Mastercard and working to lift people out of poverty in developing countries. Is.

But the swiftness with which President Joe Biden surprisingly nominated Banga on Thursday, soon after the World Bank’s board began accepting nominations, drew criticism from some nonprofit groups, climate and development professionals that the United States has never Didn’t want open competition. quickly sought the job and fended off challengers.

As the World Bank’s largest shareholder with 16.35% voting power, the United States exerts strong influence over the Bank’s policies, and the lender’s president works closely with the Treasury Department.

“There’s been a lot of encouragement for a merit-based transparent process with women candidates,” said Claire Healy, Washington director of the E3G climate think tank, referring to the board’s selection process announcement.

“Time is short and the stakes are high, so concerns about the process for carrying out reforms will be set aside,” Healy said.

Yellen is pressing the World Bank to refine a package of sweeping reforms aimed at vastly expanding its lending resources and mission to address climate change and other global challenges.

Banga will face a difficult slate of issues surrounding the institution’s finances and capital structure from the outset – thorny problems he must address as he seeks to combat climate change on top of his traditional role as a poverty fighter. Reshapes the bank for

“There is broad agreement that we need to raise private capital,” Yellen said. “This is one person who has a better chance of being able to accomplish this than anyone else I can honestly think of.”

He added that his background is “really quite different” from previous World Bank presidents, who were often chosen from positions in government service.

“This is someone who grew up in emerging markets, spent most of his career working in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, really deeply understands and lives in countries that face challenges of development are,” she said.

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