Obama taps Jim Yong Kim for World Bank post

(Jim Yong Kim)

President Barack Obama on Friday (23 March 2012) nominated Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim to head the World Bank.

The Korean-born Kim is a physician by training and a prominent figure in global health and development circles.

Obama took a strong personal interest in filling the World Bank vacancy after current president Robert Zoellick announced in February he was stepping down. The actual selection will be made next month by the World Bank's 25-member executive board. The United States, as the world's largest economy, has the largest percentage of the votes.

Since its founding in 1944, the World Bank has always been headed by an American. Developing countries have long sought to gain more power in the World Bank as well as its sister lending organization, the International Monetary Fund, which has always been headed by a European.