David Malpass named World Bank president

David Malpass, a senior US Treasury official in President Donald Trump´s administration, was unanimously chosen as the next president of the World Bank.

The selection of Malpass by the bank´s board of directors followed an “open, transparent” nomination process in which citizens of all membership countries were potentially eligible, the bank said in a statement.

But since the bank´s creation following World War II, all of its presidents have been American men, following an unwritten rule that also ensures European leadership at the top of its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund.

The announcement on Friday came as expected just prior to next week´s joint spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF.