Biden-nominated Indian American Ajay Banga has been elected to serve as the next president of the World Bank. He is the first Indian American to ever hold this position, and his five-year term will start on June 2.
Banga will be replacing David Malpass, a Trump nominee who announced his resignation earlier this year after months of online controversy sparked by his failure to articulate a clear stance on climate change.
Banga was born in Pune, Maharashtra in 1959 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2007. He began his career at Nestle in the early 80s and has since served as a board member at various multinational organizations including Citigroup, American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow, Inc. He worked at Mastercard for over a decade, acting as president, chief executive and eventually executive chairman.
In a statement congratulating Banga for his appointment, President Joe Biden called him “a transformative leader” who will bring “expertise, experience, and innovation to the position of World Bank President.”
“And together with World Bank leadership and shareholders, he will help steer the institution as it evolves and expands to address global challenges that directly affect its core mission of poverty reduction—including climate change,” Biden continued.
Read the full story at AsAm News
