World Bank appoints Kristalina Georgieva as chief executive
Kristalina Georgieva has been appointed chief executive of the World Bank.
The Bulgarian will effectively replace Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the bank's managing director and chief operating officer, though the title of chief executive is newly created. Indrawati was appointed Indonesian finance minister in July.
Georgieva, the former head of EU humanitarian affairs and vice-president of the European Commission for budget and HR, recently lost out in the race to become UN secretary general. Antonio Guterres, the former Portuguese prime minister, was formally nominated to be the next UN secretary general earlier this month. He will succeed Ban Ki-moon early next year.
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The European Commission said Georgieva will resign and take up her new post in January. Gunther Oettinger, Germany's European commissioner responsible for the digital economy, will take over Georgieva's responsibility for the EU budget; that will include navigating talks on how to manage the EU budget once Britain leaves the European Union.
Georgieva worked at the World Bank between 1993 and 2010, focusing on economics and sustainable development.
Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, said: "Kristalina is a globally recognised leader with a proven track record in improving the lives of those most in need. Helping countries manage global shocks and threats is at the core of the World Bank's efforts to end poverty and boost shared prosperity."
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Earlier this month, the World Bank released a new report saying that the number of people living in extreme poverty has hit a record low. More than 100m people climbed above the poverty line between 2012 and 2013 as strong growth in Asia boosted incomes for some of the world's poorest people.
An estimated 767m people around the world live below the poverty line on lesss than $1.90 (£1.48) a day.