You're listening to a podcast from the BBC World Service. This is Hard Talk with me, Stephen Sacker.

Thanks for downloading this edition of the program. I do hope you enjoy it.

My guest today has long been a prominent and influential member of that elite class of international

bureaucrats who fill the top jobs in the world's leading multilateral institutions.

In Kristallina Georgieva's case, she made a conscious decision to leave her native Bulgaria

because she felt she could make more of a difference by joining the World Bank

and taking on a key role in development economics.

Aside from seven years of service as an EU Commissioner in Brussels,

she's been at the World Bank for the last quarter century.

And now, thanks to the surprise resignation of former Chief Jim Kim,

she is now the acting president of the bank, keeping the seat warm until

David Malpas, the nominee of the Trump administration, takes the post, barring unforeseen

circumstances. Now, this change at the top comes at the time when the World Bank's role,

its values and its methods have come under close scrutiny.

And that is likely to intensify when it is led by an ally of a US president who has little time

for multilateral institutions. So, is the bank braced for a bout of severe turbulence?

Well, Kristolina Georgieva joins me now. Welcome to Hard Talk.

Thank you for having me, Stephen. Would you agree that this is a time of very great uncertainty

for the World Bank? It is a time of uncertainty for the world. We see the world economy slowing down. There are concerns around

debt burdens. There are clouds because of trade. As for the World Bank, we have never been

in such strong financial position in our entire history. We just got the largest

capital increase, 50% boost, and that is because our shareholders, including the United States,

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