Intention to Step Down as President

Bank Group Well Positioned to Tackle Critical Development Challenges, Increase Impact, and Support Economic Growth

This afternoon, I shared with the World Bank Group’s Board of Directors my intention to step down by the end of the World Bank’s fiscal year.

Serving as President of the World Bank Group has been my enormous honor and privilege. I am deeply grateful for the support of the Executive Directors, Officers, and staff across all five World Bank Group institutions.

We’ve worked hard together to reduce poverty, increase economic growth, reduce government debt burdens, and improve living standards across the full range of human development, including education, health, social protection and jobs, gender, and access to clean water and electricity. I’m proud of what we have achieved during my term and would like to mention a few highlights.

We have delivered consecutive surges of financing during overlapping global crises, and our efforts are reaching completion thanks to hard work and innovation around the institution – first, the $150b in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and now the overlapping $170b surge in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its spillover effects.

We’ve reached major new records in financing levels, including climate financing. We drew heavily on our completion of and subscriptions to the IBRD and IFC capital increase; frontloaded IDA19 resources; secured IDA20 a year early, which was the largest resource mobilization in IDA’s history and the first accelerated replenishment; proceeded with multiple measures to increase the utilization of the balance sheet.

The massive effort was evident in both the quantity and quality of operations, including over $16b of disbursements to Ukraine to date, our work to address the ongoing global food crisis, and our continuous support for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. The SALL mid-year review in December 2022 will allow us to add $2b more per year to IBRD’s commitment potential.

We’ve enhanced our support for inclusive and sustainable growth, launched the Pandemic Fund, developed the Climate Change Action Plan and CCDRs, proposed multiple financial instruments to provide results-based concessional support for verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

I’ve worked to strengthen management and staff at all levels and ensure fiscal discipline. We’ve organized effectively to carry out the realignment, build the knowledge bank, produce highly respected flagship reports, promote debt transparency and sustainability, and deepen our leadership on development economics.

By the end of the fiscal year, we will be well-positioned to feature sustainability more clearly in the mission of the World Bank Group, align the mission with resources, and set in motion an effective evolution to increase the institution’s impact on people in the developing world.

I am eagerly looking forward to working on the multiple challenges facing economics, business, development, and global finance. As I have done throughout my public sector career, I will be looking for ways to improve people’s lives and living standards. This is an important and constructive opportunity for the World Bank Group to set its course. I’ll have more to say on our progress in the weeks ahead.

– David