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Indian American Ajay Banga Named World Bank President by Executive Board

Ajay Banga will lead the World Bank for the next five years, starting 2 June 2023.

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Ajay Banga, the Indian-origin former CEO of Mastercard, was appointed as president of the World Bank on Wednesday, 3 May.

Details: Banga was the unanimous choice of a 25-member executive board, according to a tweet posted by the global financial organisation.

  • He succeeds former US treasury official David Malpass

  • Banga's five-year tenure will begin from 2 June.

The job: Banga has his work cut out as the India-born finance and development specialist will be incharge of prepping the World Bank to take on worldwide crises such as climate change and more, Moneycontrol reported.

POTUS pick: Banga was nominated for the top job by US President Joe Biden in February this year.

  • "He is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history," Biden had said.

  • The world leader said that he backed Banga due to the latter's "critical experience mobilising public-private resources to tackle the most urgent challenges of our time, including climate change."

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Backstory: The Indian American executive was born into a Sikh family in Pune, where his father, who served in the Indian Army, was posted.

  • Banga has an economics degree from Delhi University’s St Stephen's College and is a post-graduate from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.

  • He worked at Nestle for 13 years and then PepsiCo.

  • But it was Banga’s stint at Mastercard that brought him into the limelight as one of the most prominent Indian American executives in the US.

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