Jim Yong Kim has abruptly announced that he will resign as World Bank president on February 1, more than three years ahead of schedule, leaving one of world’s top multilateral economic institutions grappling with confusion and uncertainty over its leadership. 

Mr Kim’s departure is likely to trigger a debate about whether the decades-long tradition of allowing the sitting US administration to pick the president of the World Bank should continue, given Donald Trump’s deep scepticism of multilateral institutions.   

Although there is a formal selection process for the presidency of the World Bank, the board has consistently approved US appointees, while Europeans have won the post of managing director of the International Monetary Fund — an unwritten understanding that was already showing signs of strain amid the growth of emerging economies.