WASHINGTON, January 8. /TASS/. World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced on Monday he would step down from his position on February 1, the organization said in a statement.

World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will serve as the organization’s interim president starting from February 1.

Kim, who worked as the World Bank CEO for more than six years, was quoted as saying in a statement that "it has been a great honor to serve as President of this remarkable institution, full of passionate individuals dedicated to the mission of ending extreme poverty in our lifetime."

"The work of the World Bank Group is more important now than ever as the aspirations of the poor rise all over the world, and problems like climate change, pandemics, famine and refugees continue to grow in both their scale and complexity. Serving as President and helping position the institution squarely in the middle of all these challenges has been a great privilege," he added.

Jim Yong Kim began his first five-year term as the World Bank president on July 1, 2012. In 2016, he was re-elected to the post by the organization’s board of directors. His second term was to expire in 2022.