Commentators on Rodrigo Rato’s unanticipated announcement that he will step down as head of the IMF have not been slow to make the links with the just ended World Bank leadership selection process. A Reuters piece has three people drawing comparisons, while the Bretton Woods Project was quick off the blocks also with a statement demanding a new process to decide who’ll head the Fund. Continue reading
Category Archives: Archive – previous races
Zoellick deal stitched up.
Amidst the stack of mindless articles carrying verbatim the Bank’s press release on Zoellick’s coronation, Steven Weisman’s piece for the New York Times stands out. He highlights one of the thorny issues that Zoellick will have to deal with – deciding whether Suzanne Rich Folsom, head of the department of institutional integrity, is doing a good job scaring bad corrupt Bank staff, or was doing a bad job of advancing the interests of the Wolfowitz coterie. Continue reading
Play it again Sam!!Tradition?
No this is not Casablanca. Looks like Zoellick met with the Board late last night (an “informal” meeting that lasted four hours reports AFP) to discuss “strategic directions, leadership, corporate governance, multilateral environment and independence ” of the Bank and according to the New York Times, “A bank official familiar with Mr. Zoellick’s meeting said he was very precise in discussing possible changes in the bank’s governing structure and its difficulties on issues like whether to continue lending to so-called middle-income countries that have easy access to capital markets, the need to raise money for the poorest countries and combating corruption in bank lending.”
Kraftwerk.
Fans of 70s German synthpop will particularly enjoy this photo of Robert Zoellick with Brazilian president Lula on Monday.
Coronation timeline.
Yesterday the board posted this on the timeline for Zoellick’s coronation: “The Executive Directors have decided to invite the nominee to an informal meeting on June 20, to discuss key issues of interest to the World Bank Group. … Following this meeting, and follow-up interactions and consultations with their respective authorities, the Executive Directors intend to meet again on June 25, 2007 to decide on the Presidency of the Bank. They expect that all the required processes will be completed by June 30, 2007.”