World Bank chief urges fast approvals

World Bank chief Ajay Banga called the years now spent going from identification of a project to its approval as an ‘overly elaborate’ process

The new leader of the World Bank said the lender needs to speed up project-approval times that now stretch for two to three years as it works to address trillion-dollar global challenges such as climate change and inequality.

The bank needs to do more in less time, eliminating red tape and bureaucracy that slows its work, Ajay Banga said in a statement-shared with staff on Friday.

Banga called the years now spent going from identification of a project to its approval as an “overly elaborate” process that costs time and undercuts the ambition of World Bank employees.

Banga took over from David Malpass, who was nominated by former president Donald Trump in 2019 and in February announced plans to step down almost a year early. Banga’s ratification last month gives the Biden administration a chance to evolve the Washington-based institution toward a greater focus on climate change.