US to nominate Zoellick as new World Bank President

Washington, May 30 (UNI) US President George W Bush will nominate former Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick as the new president of the World Bank, says a senior administration official.

Mr Bush will make a formal announcement later in the day today.

The World Bank's 20-member board has to approve the nomination before Zoellick takes over his new assignment. However, the White House visualises no difficulty in securing board's approval which is more of formality.

Mr Zoellick (53), who had also served as US Trade Representative (USTR), will take the place Mr Paul Wolfowitz, who is stepping down on June 30 in the wake of a scandal over his role in arranging a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend, who is a bank employee.

The tradition has been that the United States nominates the President of the World Bank and the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) comes from Europe.

Some countries, however, favour open selection process to fill the top posts of these two multilateral financial institutions.

UNI