What Did the New President of the World Bank Ask His Employees?

The new president of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, requested on Friday that the institution's employees "double" their efforts in the areas of development and climate as he seeks to accelerate the bank's processes to address the most urgent global issues. In his first day in office, the former CEO of Mastercard told employees in a memo that he aims to direct each of them to work toward his vision "to create a world free of poverty on a planet where life can thrive." Banga wrote in the memo that "achieving our ambition requires us to evolve to maximize resources, develop new strategies, think creatively, take measured risks, and forge new partnerships with civil society and multilateral institutions." The U.S. Treasury Department reported that Banga met on Thursday with Secretary Janet Yellen, who urged him to "make the most of the bank's balance sheet and mobilize more private capital to finance climate and global crises and address other issues."