US Treasury Official David Malpass Named World Bank President

David Malpass. 

(Photo: AP)

David Malpass, a top US Treasury official in the Trump administration, was unanimously selected as the new president of the World Bank on Friday, 6 April.

The World Bank’s 25-member executive board unanimously approved 63-year-old Malpass, who is currently Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs, as the development lender's thirteenth president for a five-year term beginning 9 April, according to a statement.

Malpass, a loyalist of President Donald Trump, succeeds Jim Yong Kim, who stepped down on 1 February to join an investment firm. Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the bank, has been acting as the interim president.

Malpass was a senior economic adviser to the US president during his 2016 election campaign. Malpass, who has been a longtime critic of global financial institutions, was nominated in February. No other countries had proposed any candidates to challenge Malpass, making his selection by the board all but assured.

Since the bank's creation following World War II, all of its presidents have been American men. The World Bank President is Chair of the Boards of Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

The president is also ex-officio Chair of the Boards of Directors of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the Administrative Council of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

As Under Secretary, Malpass represented the US in international settings, including the G-7 and G-20 Deputy Finance Ministerial, World Bank-IMF Spring and Annual Meetings, and meetings of the Financial Stability Board, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

As Under Secretary, he played a crucial role in several major World Bank Group reforms and initiatives, including the recent capital increase for IBRD and IFC.

He was also instrumental in advancing the Debt Transparency Initiative, adopted by the World Bank and IMF, to increase public disclosure of debt and thereby reduce the frequency and severity of debt crises.

Prior to becoming Under Secretary, he was an international economist and founder of a macroeconomics research firm based in New York City. Earlier in his career, Malpass served as the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Developing Nations and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Economic Affairs.

In these roles, he focused on an array of economic, budget, and foreign policy issues, such as the United States’ involvement in multilateral institutions, including the World Bank. Malpass has served on the boards of the Council of the Americas, Economic Club of New York, and the National Committee on US China Relations.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Colorado College and his MBA from the University of Denver. He undertook advanced graduate work in international economics at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.