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Former top Japanese currency diplomat Masato Kanda has been selected as the next president of the Asian Development Bank, the Manila-based international lender said Thursday.
Kanda, 59, currently a special adviser to Japan’s prime minister, will take office on Feb. 24, 2025 as the 11th president, succeeding Masatsugu Asakawa, another former senior official of Japan’s Finance Ministry, the ADB said.
Masato Kanda gives an interview in Tokyo in July 2024 as Japan’s vice finance minister for international affairs. (Kyodo)
Japan, a leading shareholder in the ADB along with the United States, has supplied the bank’s chief since the institution was established in 1966.
With Kanda emerging as the sole candidate, the ADB’s Board of Governors completed the process for selecting him Wednesday.
“Mr. Kanda’s extensive experience in international finance and proven leadership in multilateral settings will serve the ADB well in navigating complex global economic challenges,” ADB Board of Governors chairman Fabio Panetta said in a statement.
As vice finance minister for international affairs, Kanda was behind massive market interventions by Japan earlier this year aimed at stemming the yen’s sharp decline against the U.S. dollar and other major currencies. He left the post in July after serving for three years.
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