Jim Yong Kim, President of World Bank has revealed that he will be stepping down his position of the World apex bank effective 1st February 2019. Mr Kim, 59, was not due to leave until 2022 after he was re-elected for a second five-year term in 2017.
He disclosed that he will join a firm and focus on increasing infrastructure investments in developing countries.
In a statement, Mr Kim said: "It has been a great honour to serve as President of this remarkable institution, full of passionate individuals dedicated to the mission of ending extreme poverty in our lifetime".
Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank's chief executive officer, will assume the role of interim president.
Under Mr Kim, the World Bank ended its support of coal power projects - in contrast to Mr Trump's promise to revive the US coal industry. In April, Mr Kim bowed to pressure from the Trump administration over loan payments to China.
The World Bank agreed to change its lending structure in order to secure a $13bn capital increase.
Mr Kim, who was born in Seoul, South Korea, trained as a medical doctor was nominated by former president Barack Obama for both his first and second term at the head of the World Bank.
Positioned at 41 in Forbes' Power People 2018 list, Mr Kim has presided over the dispersal of billions of dollars of World Bank funding. In 2018, the multilateral institution made financial commitments worth $67bn.
