Trump To Nominate Treasury Official To Lead World Bank

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David Malpass, undersecretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of Treasury, listens during a Financial Stability Oversight Council meeting at the Treasury Department in Washington on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Andrew Harrer.
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David Malpass, a senior Treasury Department official and World Bank critic, has accepted President Donald Trump’s offer to be nominated to lead the world’s largest development lender, according to two people familiar with the decision who were not authorized to speak publicly.

A formal announcement of the nomination is planned for Wednesday, the people said.

Malpass, 62, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for international affairs, would need to be approved by the World Bank’s 12-member board before becoming its president. The United States traditionally chooses the bank’s leadership.

Malpass, a Trump loyalist and veteran of the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, has had sharp words for several policies at the World Bank, including its loans to China. He has also long expressed skepticism of global institutions.

Malpass has been heavily involved in U.S.-China negotiations over trade in recent months.

On Monday night, a person close to Malpass said he would seek to be “constructive” as World Bank president, but the person declined to detail much of his possible agenda, beyond saying Malpass’ priorities would be to raise incomes in developing nations and defend U.S. interests.

The Trump administration’s decision to nominate Malpass was first reported by Politico.

A White House official declined to comment.

Jim Yong Kim stepped down last week as World Bank president after more than six years in the post. Kim left to join a firm involved in infrastructure investment in developing countries.

The World Bank’s directors, who represent donor countries, have the right to nominate candidates for the president’s job and will vote on a candidate.

By an unwritten tradition since the bank’s founding in 1944, the board has always chosen Washington’s nominee. The Europeans, in turn, have determined the head of the International Monetary Fund.

The Trump administration has questioned the value of multilateral institutions, including the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. But it supported a funding increase for the World Bank last year, which raised $13 billion from member countries.

(c) 2019, The Washington Post · Robert Costa

{Matzav.com}


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