World Bank needs to be more responsive, efficient

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said on Thursday that he wants to bring some changes to the international institution to make it more responsive and efficient. "There are going to have to be some changes in the way we run the institution," said Kim in a news briefing in Washington. "The need for these changes have been clear for a very long time," he added. As the head of the Bank, he said he would like to set the groundwork for making these changes. His comments came ahead of the annual meetings of the World bank in Tokyo next week, where Kim said he would present his views on the global economy, and his sense about the future of the global institution. The Bank needs to move to a model "where our board and governors focus much more on holding us accountable for results on the ground in countries rather than focusing so much on approval of large loans." The World Bank president said he currently has "no appetite" for capital increase. Instead, he stressed the urgency for the Bank to streamline the procedures and become more nimble, in order to function more effectively and efficiently. Kim also noted that the Bank is very concerned about the shocks the developing countries would face if the world economy further weakens. The Bank's primary job is to make sure that the world economic downturn does not dramatically worsen the situation for people in poverty, he added.