Ajay Banga, the former CEO of MasterCard, is the U.S. nominee to head the World Bank. He garnered support from influential members on Friday, indicating that his path to being approved by the executive board of the multilateral lender will probably be straightforward.
France and Germany's finance ministers praised Banga, who was unexpectedly chosen on Thursday by U.S. President Joe Biden to head the World Bank's transformation to combat climate change and other global concerns.
During a press conference during the G20 finance leaders meeting in India, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire remarked of Banga, "I think that we have a very good candidate for the World Bank."
"I look forward to meeting the candidate to give a final response to this candidacy. But I think he's a very good one."
However, the government was expected to support Banga, according to Krishnamurthy Subramanian, India's executive director at the IMF, who spoke to Reuters in Washington.
Subramanian, the former chief economic adviser to the Indian government, referred to the nomination as "an elegant solution."
World Bank president
Every World Bank president since the organization's founding at the end of World War Two has been selected by the United States, the lender's largest shareholder.
According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Washington moved swiftly with a well-qualified candidate to ensure that tradition would continue despite not knowing whether there would be other nominees for the position.
"We've tried to find a nominee who is really well qualified and brings a unique set of skills to the job that we think will be attractive," she said.
World Bank's Board plans
The World Bank's board plans to make its decision by early May. Other nations have until March 29 to nominate a substitute candidate.
But with the United States and European countries supporting Banga along with some key emerging markets, a challenger would have almost no chance of succeeding and would represent a largely symbolic effort to protest what is seen by many countries and stakeholders as a non-transparent selection process stacked for too long in Washington's favor.
According to a source with knowledge of the matter, many developing countries took the United States' prompt nomination as a strong warning not to submit their own candidates.
According to Yellen, Banga is qualified to lead the World Bank and reform it to increase lending on climate change while maintaining its core anti-poverty mission because she has "the right leadership and management skills, experience in emerging markets, and financial expertise."
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Banga's nomination won praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest trade association, which called him "the right choice in steering (the bank) toward greater impact, efficiency, and agility."
World Bank staff are bracing for Banga to make some management changes at the bank, emboldened by Yellen's repeated calls for "bolder and more imaginative" action by the bank, two bank sources told Reuters.
U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry, a harsh critic of Vice President Biden's environmental agenda and the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee for the Republican Party, also endorsed Banga.
At this vulnerable time for the global economy, the Bank needs Banga's "considerable experience in managing international companies and promoting investment to developing countries," according to a statement from McHenry.
