World Bank Group chief announces reform to meet strategic goals

World Bank Group (WBG) on Friday revealed a set of reforms to make its staff, financeas and priorities better serve the twin goals of the institution: ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of the population in developing countries. Addressing the plenary session of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the WBG, which started here on Friday and was attended by representatives of WBG' 188 member countries, WBG President Jim Yong Kim said that the organization had avoided tough choices for too long. "That's changing. We are taking our own medicine. Just as we tell finance ministers, we also need to plan for the longer term, shore up our revenue base, seeking ways to save, and building a stronger foundation for years to come," said Kim. He said over the next three years, the WBG will seek to reduce at least 400 million U.S. dollars in administrative costs, and these savings will directly benefit its clients, as the organization will work to reinvest these resources toward new financing. Kim also said WBG needs to reform the way it designs its budget, to align budgets with its priorities, to invest selectively in the future, and to aggressively explore new ways to grow revenue to better serve its clients. "We can't revert to business as usual," he said. He said "When I started my tenure at the World Bank Group some 16 months ago, I discovered a staff with a tremendous depth of knowledge and experience. I also found a staff frustrated with the institution." "Many wanted their work to have greater impact. They chafed at a bureaucracy that had turned our six regional units into silos, with each one reluctant to share its technical expertise with the others," he added.