Kristalina Georgieva, a former head of EU humanitarian affairs and vice-president of the European commission, has been appointed chief executive of the World Bank.

The Bulgarian, who recently lost out in the race to become UN secretary general, will report to the bank’s president, Jim Yong Kim, who was reappointed for another five-year term last month. Although the title of CEO is newly created, Georgieva will effectively replace Sri Mulyani Indrawati, formerly the bank’s managing director and chief operating officer, who was appointed Indonesian finance minister in July.

Georgieva’s appointment follows upheaval at the institution, which has faced a backlash against globalisation driven by concern that the rich and western states have been the biggest beneficiaries of free trade. A shakeup of the bank’s management and organisation by Kim has also faced opposition from some staff.

Announcing Georgieva’s appointment, Kim emphasised her background as a European commissioner for humanitarian aid: “Kristalina is a globally recognised leader with a proven track record in improving the lives of those most in need.”

Georgieva, who will begin her appointment in January, is currently European commission vice-president for budget and human resource, a post in which she oversees a €161bn (£144bn) budget. She served in a number of positions at the World Bank between 1993 and 2010, including director of sustainable development.

Kim added: “As humanitarian aid commissioner, Kristalina established herself as a global champion for the concept of resilience. Helping countries manage global shocks and threats is at the core of the World Bank Group’s efforts to end poverty and boost shared prosperity.”

Georgieva, who forged a reputation as an effective administrator in her EU role, was a late entrant in the race to become UN secretary general, which was won by António Guterres of Portugal. Highly regarded by observers at a time when Russia was insistent the next secretary general should come from eastern Europe, she was widely seen as close to the west.

Before the bank’s annual meeting with the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC this month, it warned that inequality posed a major threat to its ambition of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030.



The bank said the number of people living on less than the international poverty line of $1.90 a day had continued to fall despite the sluggishness of the global economy. It added, however, that faster growth and a range of anti-inequality measures would be needed to meet the twin goals, set by Kim, of reducing global poverty to 3% and boosting the income of the bottom 40% of each country’s population.

Kim has indicated that his second term will focus on promoting economic growth through private-sector investment infrastructure, as well as boosting education and health programmes.