Zoellick to step down as World Bank president in June

World Bank President Robert B Zoellick will step down from office at the end of a five-year term, which expires on 30 June, the World Bank said in a release published on its official web site.

He said the bank, during his five-year term played a historic role, especially during the global economic crisis, providing more than $247 billion to help developing countries boost growth and overcome poverty amidst record replenishments.

''I'm very pleased that when the world needed the Bank to step up, our shareholders responded with expanded resources and support for key reforms that made us quicker, more effective and more open,'' Zoellick said.  ''The Bank is now strong, healthy and well positioned for new challenges, and so it is a natural time for me to move on and support new leadership.''

Zoellick said he is leaving a World Bank that is strong, healthy and well positioned to address the new challenges facing the world.
 
Besides record $247 billion of support in the key areas of infrastructure, the private sector, agriculture, trade finance, social safety nets, education, health, and the environment, the bank also saw the first increase in its general capital in over 20 years - with over half the new capital coming from developing countries.

The bank also raised a record $90 billion for International Development Assistance (IDA), to fund the poorest, against a very challenging backdrop of donor austerity, he said.

Detailing the initiatives taken by the World Bank during his tenure as its president, he said the `Putting Food First' programme alerted the world to the forthcoming food crisis while helping to marshal new resources and tools to address it.