A group of former World Bank officials have written a letter backing the Coordinating Minister of the economy and the Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to be its next president.
In an open letter, 39 former economists and managers said the Bank should choose the next chief on merit.
Three candidates are up for the job, the first time the World Bank has had to make a choice.
Traditionally the post is given to the candidate put forward by the US, which this time is Professor Jim Yong Kim.
The executive board of the Bank has to choose between Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank managing director, Jose Antonio Ocampo, a former finance minister of Colombia, and Jim Yong Kim, a public health expert and president of Dartmouth College.
The World Bank plans to select the successor to outgoing president Robert Zoellick by 20 April, when it starts its spring meetings with the IMF.
The letter, which is signed by high-ranking managers and economists, including Tunisia’s central bank chief, Mustapha Nabli, said: “We believe that Mrs Okonjo-Iweala has outstanding qualifications across the full range of relevant criteria.”
They said they cared too much about the institution not to speak out.
Under an informal agreement, the US choses its own person as the World Bank president. In return, Europe appoints a European as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is the Bank’s sister institution.
Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde, Europe’s choice, was the most recent appointment to the IMF.
Emerging economies have become increasingly unhappy with this arrangement and are pushing for change.
