(Photo: AP)

Washington (People’s Daily) -- David R. Malpass will be the new president of the World Bank Group. The executive directors of the World Bank today unanimously selected him for a five-year term, starting on Tuesday, April 9, 2019.

A statement issued by the world bank said its executive directors followed the selection process agreed to in 2011 which requires an open, transparent nomination where any national of the bank’s membership could be proposed by any executive director or governor through an executive director.

US President Donald Trump nominated Malpass in February. The nomination was prompted by the departure in January of Jim Yong Kim, who left the bank after more than six years at the helm to join a private equity infrastructure fund.

The United States is the largest shareholder with 16 percent of its voting power and has chosen its leaders since it began operations in 1946.

Malpass previously served as US Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. 

As Under Secretary, Malpass represented the United States in international settings, including the G-7 and G-20 Deputy Finance Ministerial, World Bank-IMF spring and annual meetings, and meetings of the Financial Stability Board, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

He’s considered a loyal Trump supporter.