World Bank picks Jim Yong Kim for second term as president

For the more than 70 years since the World Bank was founded as an institution to give loans and grants to developing countries, an American has been at the helm, The New York Times reports.

Despite recent upheaval at the bank, and criticism of how it has been managed, only one nomination was submitted for the job of president: that of the American currently serving in that role.

Jim Yong Kim, 56, a public-health official and former president of Dartmouth College, was unanimously appointed by the World Bank’s executive directors to a second five-year term as president, according to a statement released by the bank on Tuesday.

Mr. Kim’s reappointment had been widely expected after the Obama administration submitted its pick in August. That nomination — along with support from other countries like Brazil, China and France — appeared to have turned away any other would-be nominees.

In his first term, Mr. Kim led reforms that included reorganizing and cutting the staff, which created a demoralized work force of thousands. Employees at the World Bank banded together to write an unusual letter to the board, saying that the institution was “experiencing a crisis of leadership.”

On Tuesday, the bank said that a review of its spending found that it had reduced administrative costs by $400 million, with some of the savings redirected to its programs.

The bank’s board praised Mr. Kim’s leadership, highlighting his goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and accelerate income growth for the bottom 40 percent of the population in every developing country. Members of the 189-nation organization agreed to give $52 billion for the bank’s fund for the poorest countries.

In a meeting with the board, Mr. Kim emphasized that he intended to focus on “institutional stability and deeper staff engagement,” the bank said in the statement. He would also like to facilitate private sector investment in infrastructure and invest in education, health and skills to help developing countries, according to the bank.

The United States is the largest contributor to the World Bank, which was founded alongside the International Monetary Fund after World War II as a resource to bolster the economies of developing nations. In February, the I.M.F. appointed Christine Lagarde, the former finance minister of France, to a second five-year term as its president. Again, no other candidate had been nominated.

Mr. Kim was born in South Korea but moved to the United States when he was young and became a citizen. He is to begin his second term on July 1, 2017.