Picking The ‘Right’ Person: Trump Nominates David Malpass As World Bank President, A Noted Critic Of The Institution

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (6 February 2019) presented with heaps of praise his nominee for the World Bank, David Malpass, calling him the “right person to take on this incredibly important job,” reports The Economic Times.

Malpass is currently serving as the president’s undersecretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department and has been known for voicing strong criticism of the World Bank. He has accused the 189-nation strong institution of focusing mainly on expanding its operations and sidelining its core missions such as eradicating poverty.

He has stated that his aim at the helm of the World Bank would be to implement the Trump administration’s agenda regarding developing nations.

Malpass has promised to focus on the plight of women in developing countries, taking into account Trump’s daughter Ivanka’s views on the subject."I know Ivanka has been a strong leader on women's economic empowerment, and I look forward to continuing our work together on her women's global development and prosperity initiative,” he stated.

Explaining the context of his comments criticising the World Bank, Malpass talked about his role in getting a $13 billion capital increase for the institution; as part of the infusion, a number of reforms were also included.

He highlighted his coming challenge as pushing through these reforms, which include greater restrictions on the institution’s lending to major economies of the developing world like India and China. Malpass has asserted that the credit being forwarded to these countries was depriving poorer countries of resources.

The Trump administration official also plans visits to countries like China and Japan to secure support for his candidacy. Although Malpass has been non-committal on environmental programmes as World Bank head, he has said he will continue with existing green initiatives.