World Bank Group President, Robert B. Zoellick, yesterday announced that he would be stepping down on June 30th this year, when his term expires. During his five-year tenure, Zoellick oversaw the bank play an historic role during the global economic crisis, using record replenishments to provide more than US$ 247 billion to help developing countries boost growth and overcome poverty.He is the bank’s 11th president. “I am honoured to have led such a world class institution with so many talented and exceptional people. Together, we have focused on supporting developing countries to navigate crises and adjust to global economic shifts,” Zoellick said in a statement. He acknowledged that “the Bank has recognised that we live in a world of multiple poles of growth where traditional concepts of the “Third World” are now outdated and where developing countries have a key role to play as growth drivers and responsible stakeholders.” “We have scaled up our support to poor people, countries, and communities and shown that the Bank can be an indispensable innovator, catalyst, and driver of a modernised multilateralism. “I’m very pleased that when the world needed the Bank to step up, our shareholders responded with expanded resources and support for key reforms that made us quicker, more effective and more open,” Zoellick added. He further explained that the Bank is now strong, healthy and well positioned for new challenges. Zoellick’s Bank leadership. In the campaign of putting food first, Zoellick alerted the world of the forthcoming food crisis, and helped marshal new resources and tools to address it. The Bank’s agriculture lending increased to US$6 billion per year.He also created the Asset Management Company that is affiliated to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to channel sovereign wealth funds and pension resources (to date US$3 billion) to the private sector in Africa and other emerging markets.
