New World Bank president approved

The World Bank board on Monday unanimously approved Robert Zoellick to serve as president, The Associated Press reported today. Zoellick will follow Paul Wolfowitz, who was forced to resign due to a conflict of interest concerning a promotion given to Shaha Riza, his girlfriend and a bank employee.

As World Bank president, Zoellick will serve a five-year term in an institution that is struggling to regain the trust of the international community. Zoellick has served under three Republican presidents and, most recently, was as an executive at Goldman Sachs.

“Zoellick must begin a series of reforms in his first 100 days to create a new deal between the bank and the world's poor. We can't continue with business as usual,” said Jeremy Hobbs, the executive director of Oxfam.

The World Bank was created in 1945 and disperses over $20 billion each year to aid in international development and poverty alleviation.

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