Wolfowitz names two deputies for World Bank

WASHINGTON, Apr 20: World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has appointed two men, including a former finance minister of El Salvador, to be his top deputies, according to a notice circulated to the bank's board of directors.

Wolfowitz named Juan Jose Daboub and Graeme Wheeler, the World Bank's treasurer and a former New Zealand treasury official, as his managing directors following a five-month global search for a successor to Shengman Zhang, who left what was then the lone managing director post in January.

''Juan and Graeme are seasoned professionals with broad experience in managing complicated problems in large organizations,'' Wolfowitz said in the board notice, a copy of which obtained by Reuters.

''They have succeeded by defining clear goals and strategies and measuring and delivering results,'' he added.

Daboub will permanently join the bank on July 1. Until then he will work as a consultant to Wolfowitz, while also working with Wheeler to develop a plan by June on how best to divide the role of managing the World Bank's operations.

As acting managing director over the past few months, Wheeler has worked closely with Wolfowitz, among other things helping to craft an anti-corruption strategy for the bank.

Daboub, 42, has worked in both the public and private sector, running a family-owned business for nearly a decade before joining the board of CEL, El Salvador's electric utility and preparing it for privatization.

He was also named president of ANTEL, the state-owned telecommunications company which he also steered through a privatization process. He also served as chief of staff to El Salvador's former president Francisco Flores.

REUTERS