British Official Calls for ’Ambitious' World Bank Reforms

U.K. Secretary of State Douglas Alexander is encouraging the World Bank to embrace “ambitious reforms” that would allow it to effectively lead the global initiative to reduce poverty. Alexander urged World Bank managers and stakeholders to give poorer countries a greater stake in the bank, speed up decentralization of bank operations and implement necessary changes in its leadership and corporate governance.

The British official also said the bank should prioritize the world’s most pressing development challenges, concentrate its efforts on poor countries and improve its capacity to quickly response to the needs of an “unpredictable world.”