Profiles - January 8, 2019

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim Resigns

January 8, 2019

3 min read

Jim Yong Kim resigns as head of World Bank, Kristalina Georgieva steps in
No reason was given for his unexpected resignation.
His resignation will take effect from 1 February.
Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank’s chief executive officer, will assume the role of interim president.

World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim has made the surprise announcement that he is stepping down after six years in the post. Mr Kim, 59, was not due to leave until 2022 after he was re-elected for a second five-year term in 2017.

The international lender in a statement issued on Monday, January 7, 2019, says Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank CEO, will assume the role of interim President effective February 1.

With the immediate departure, Kim will join a firm and focus on increasing infrastructure investments in developing countries, the World Bank said the details will be provided at a later time.

In a statement, Mr Kim announced that he will also be re-joining the board of Partners In Health (PIH), an organisation he co-founded more than 30 years ago.

“It has been a great honor to serve as President of this remarkable institution, full of passionate individuals dedicated to the mission of ending extreme poverty in our lifetime,” said Kim.

“The work of the World Bank Group is more important now than ever as the aspirations of the poor rise all over the world, and problems like climate change, pandemics, famine and refugees continue to grow in both their scale and complexity. Serving as President and helping position the institution squarely in the middle of all these challenges has been a great privilege.”