By Tony Czuczka, IANSÂ
Washington : Former US deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick was Monday confirmed as the next World Bank president, said a source close to its governing board.
Zoellick, 53, replaces former Pentagon official Paul Wolfowitz, who is stepping down June 30 after an uproar over a promotion he arranged for his girlfriend, a World Bank employee.
A Goldman Sachs executive and former US trade negotiator, Zoellick was tapped by President George W. Bush in May to head the 185-nation development loan agency. He was the only candidate.
He won formal approval at a meeting of the World Bank's 24-member board in Washington, the source said.
After two rocky years under Wolfowitz, key donor nations and 10,000 employees worldwide are looking to Zoellick to rebuild morale and a sense of direction at the bank, which lends some $23 billion a year for projects.
He impressed board members at a four-hour private meeting last week and has already talked about the need to adapt the 185-nation bank's mission to changes in the developing world.
"He will be received with open arms," a European board member said last week.
The hopeful mood contrasts with the politically divisive battle over Wolfowitz, who resigned from the board on May 17 under intense, European-led pressure. Wolfowitz has denied wrongdoing.
Wolfowitz's critics accused him of using the Bush administration's agenda, in part by pushing the World Bank's role in Iraq. Wolfowitz came to the bank after helping plan the US-led invasion of Iraq as deputy defence secretary.
Zoellick, a veteran diplomat with a reputation for strategic thinking and an impatient streak, has urged the World Bank to put the past behind it and look to the future. Bush called him a "committed internationalist".
Africa is sure to remain a major focus under Zoellick, and he has hinted at a greater role for the World Bank in global trade talks. He intends to fight corruption, but is expected to show a lighter touch than his predecessor.
Wolfowitz made the anti-graft drive a hallmark of his shortened tenure, raising eyebrows when the bank cut off loans and contracts to several member countries it deemed corrupt.
One of Zoellick's first tests will be to raise a proposed $26 billion from donor countries for World Bank loans to the poorest nations in 2008-2011, a boost of $8 billion from the last three-year cycle.
By the annual meeting of World Bank member countries starting Oct 19, Zoellick would also be expected to present a detailed strategy for his five-year term.