<p>American economist Jeffrey Sachs has said, he has been officially nominated to head the World Bank by at least one of the countries that has publicly supported him.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sachs, speaking to AFP one week before the World Bank's deadline for nominations, declined to name his official backers.<br /><br />"It's been confirmed to me that my name has been put officially into nomination by one or more of the governments that has publicly endorsed my candidacy," the world-renowned economist said in a phone interview yesterday.<br /><br />Sachs, 57, is the director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and a special adviser to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals.<br /><br />Sachs sidestepped a question about whether he has support from the BRICS emerging powerhouses -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, saying "in three regions a government that supports me" will mobilise support in the region.<br /><br />Support on the home front came yesterday, in the form of a letter that 27 Democrats in the House of Representatives wrote to Obama pressing for his nomination.<br /><br />"I'm very, very moved and very honoured," Sachs said. "These are members of Congress whom I respect enormously, really admire."<br /><br />He has devoted his wide-ranging career to ending extreme poverty, and has worked for decades in poverty alleviation projects around the world.<br /><br />That has helped him garner endorsements from Bhutan, East Timor, Haiti, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia and Namibia.<br /><br />The World Bank declined to comment on his claim, noting the Board had stipulated that a short list of up to three candidates would be released only after considering names submitted by the March 23 deadline.<br /><br />In early March Sachs announced he wanted to succeed World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who is stepping down when his term ends in June.<br /><br />"Unlike previous World Bank presidents, I don't come from Wall Street or US politics," he declared in announcing his candidacy on March 2.<br /><br />"I am a practitioner of economic development, a scholar and a writer. My track record is to side with the poor and hungry, not with a corporate balance sheet or a government. Yet the solutions work for all -- the poor, companies, governments and the rest of us -- by creating a more prosperous, healthy and secure world."<br /><br /></p>
<p>American economist Jeffrey Sachs has said, he has been officially nominated to head the World Bank by at least one of the countries that has publicly supported him.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sachs, speaking to AFP one week before the World Bank's deadline for nominations, declined to name his official backers.<br /><br />"It's been confirmed to me that my name has been put officially into nomination by one or more of the governments that has publicly endorsed my candidacy," the world-renowned economist said in a phone interview yesterday.<br /><br />Sachs, 57, is the director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and a special adviser to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals.<br /><br />Sachs sidestepped a question about whether he has support from the BRICS emerging powerhouses -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, saying "in three regions a government that supports me" will mobilise support in the region.<br /><br />Support on the home front came yesterday, in the form of a letter that 27 Democrats in the House of Representatives wrote to Obama pressing for his nomination.<br /><br />"I'm very, very moved and very honoured," Sachs said. "These are members of Congress whom I respect enormously, really admire."<br /><br />He has devoted his wide-ranging career to ending extreme poverty, and has worked for decades in poverty alleviation projects around the world.<br /><br />That has helped him garner endorsements from Bhutan, East Timor, Haiti, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia and Namibia.<br /><br />The World Bank declined to comment on his claim, noting the Board had stipulated that a short list of up to three candidates would be released only after considering names submitted by the March 23 deadline.<br /><br />In early March Sachs announced he wanted to succeed World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who is stepping down when his term ends in June.<br /><br />"Unlike previous World Bank presidents, I don't come from Wall Street or US politics," he declared in announcing his candidacy on March 2.<br /><br />"I am a practitioner of economic development, a scholar and a writer. My track record is to side with the poor and hungry, not with a corporate balance sheet or a government. Yet the solutions work for all -- the poor, companies, governments and the rest of us -- by creating a more prosperous, healthy and secure world."<br /><br /></p>