Economist Jeffrey Sachs last night laid out his credentials to take over the reins at the World Bank, in an exclusive interview with Emerging Markets, as Uruguay threw its weight behind his candidacy.
Sachs, head of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and a long-time debt and poverty campaigner, said he was optimistic he would garner support from Latin America in coming days.
In a wide-ranging interview he set out his platform for reform of the institution he said was “a bit adrift and spread very thin” and operated “haphazard” programmes.
“I do expect support coming from throughout the region,” he said. “I have spoken to a number of governments that have expressed support already.”
He said he knew the region well, describing it as containing “pockets of deprivation” as well as middle income countries that display economic “dynamism”.
“The challenge is to be able to continue to prosper in what will be tougher and tougher global climatic conditions and sustainability is the one of the paramount issues I would work with governments in the region.”
Sachs set out his platform for reform. He said the Bank should not operate like a commercial bank, adding that the $16 billion it disbursed last year was equivalent to $3 for each of the 6 billion people living in developing countries.
“I feel the institution is a bit adrift and spread very, very thin and without the financial heft to carry it on money alone,” he said.“The things I can bring to this position more than ever are important for the Bank.
“This to my mind is not the right way for this organisation to respond as it leads to extremely haphazard set of programmes,” he said. “It tremendously under plays things that can be done at a regional as opposed to national level.”
He said he wanted the bank to be a “promoter of new approaches” and do more to mobilize new technologies to ensure it did not remain 5-10 years behind innovative development tools.
He said he had been heavily involved in new technologies that changed delivery of health services to the poorest parts of the world to tackle diseases such as malaria and “save millions of lives”.
He defended himself against accusations that he would not have the leadership skills to oversee an organisation with some 10,000 employees from more than 168 countries.
“I do a tremendous amount of management. It may not be on the scale of the Bank but the Earth Institute is a large organization,” he said, adding that that as a senior adviser to the UN over its Millennium Development Goals he had worked in “dozens of countries”.
Sachs has won the backing of eight countries but his chances may come down to winning support from the US government that has appointed the last 11 presidents.
Sachs said he had spoken with several senior White House officials. “I’m hoping for US support but I am not sure where that stands. I don’t know what the inside deliberations are.” He declined to say whether he would run against a US-backed candidate.
Uruguay’s finance minister Fernando Lorenzo told Emerging Markets on Friday Sachs was “one of the best names” to succeed Robert Zoellick who stands down at the end of June.
“He has a strong academic and professional record in the private sector, he knows the region perfectly well. He has a complete vision of globalization and what it means in terms of opportunities and especially challenges for international development policies.”