BRICS To Rally Behind Single World Bank Candidate
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The BRICS nations must be united in backing a single nominee as the next World Bank president, said Brazil’s finance minister Guido Mantega on Thursday.
Though Mantega was speaking after a meeting with the US nominee Jim Yong Kim, he insisted that his government had not made up its mind on whom it would back; and he would try to seek a consensus among all the BRICS as to whom the best candidate for the post should be.
The BRICS nations must be united in backing a single nominee as the next World Bank president, said Brazil’s finance minister Guido Mantega on Thursday.
Though Mantega was speaking after a meeting with the US nominee Jim Yong Kim, he insisted that his government had not made up its mind on whom it would back; and he would try to seek a consensus among all the BRICS as to whom the best candidate for the post should be.
[quote]”By late next week Brazil should have a position on the matter, and I will talk with the other BRICS. We are working for the BRICS to have a joint position,” said Mantega, as cited by Reuters.[/quote]Related: Will The World Bank Make The Right Choice?: Devesh Kapur & Arvind Subramanian
Related: Can The World Bank Rediscover Itself? : Jeffrey Sachs
The clear favourites for the post remain Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and US nominee Jim Yong Kim. Although Okonjo-Iweala has the backing of numerous developing nations, as the US pick, Kim has a clear advantage with European and other developed countries.
“It is a very tough battle,” said a Brazilian official, who asked for anonymity to speak freely. “But is not always about betting on the winner.”
Former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo is also up for the job, though the Brazilian official admitted that it would be tough to unseat the US’s virtual monopoly on the World Bank presidency – one that its has held since the World Bank’s inception – unless there is unified support from the rest of the world towards a single candidate.
A consensus among the BRICS though could be a significant boost for any candidate’s chances, though Brazil failed to convince other BRICS to jointly back a single candidate to head the IMF back in 2011.
South Africa has already declared that it would back Okonjo-Iweala for the post, while the rest of the BRICS remain undecided.
In 2011, Brazil eventually decided to back the European nominee for the IMF, Christine Lagarde, in exchange for the continuation of reforms to increase the voice of emerging-market countries in the institution.
Some analysts believe that Latin America’s top economy may once again try to extract emerging-market friendly concessions from the US candidate in return for their support.
Related: With Kim’s Nomination, The US Finally Awakens To A New Reality: Jeffrey Sachs
Related: Will Second-Best Solutions Lead To A Second-Rate World? : Mohamed El-Erian
[quote]“There is not doubt that he (Jim Yong Kim) has good experience,” said Mantega of the US nominee. “He has lived some of the issues that poor, emerging countries face.”[/quote]But Mantega asserted that he would still need to speak with Okonjo-Iweala and Ocampo before making a decision. Mantega claimed that he knew both candidates personally and lauded their great credentials as economists.
