TOKYO, Sept 10 (Askume) – Japan will nominate Masato Kanda, the country’s former chief monetary diplomat, as the next president of the Asian Development Bank, Finance Minister Shunehi Suzuki said on Tuesday.
Since the founding of the Asian Bank in 1966, its top positions have been occupied by Japanese, and both Japan and the United States are the Asian Bank’s largest shareholders. This makes Kanda a strong candidate for the position.
“(Kanda) is best suited to lead ADB due to his expertise in Asia-Pacific affairs and his deep network with senior officials from various countries and international institutions,” Suzuki said at a regular press conference.
If elected, Kanda will replace Masatsugu Asakawa, who on Monday announced his intention to resign effective Feb. 23, 2025.
The selection of the next ADB president will follow an “open, transparent and merit-based process,” the development bank said in a statement.
Kanda, who resigned in July after three years as finance deputy minister for international affairs, led a massive yen-buying intervention in currency markets in 2022 and 2024.
Asakawa, who previously served as Japan’s top monetary diplomat, became ADB president in January 2020, and has overseen measures to help the region’s economies respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some emerging economies, buoyed by rapid growth, are questioning the tradition of developed economies in senior positions in global financial institutions.
An American official serves as President of the World Bank and a European official serves as President of the International Monetary Fund.
