How much does the World Bank President get paid in 2026?
And how it compares to the IMF, ADB, and IADB
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If you’re interested in (subjectively) feeling poor, then one of the best ways of doing this is to compare your salary against the pay of CEOs.
And since we’re all interested in MDBs here, it makes sense to take a look at how much the Presidents and Executive Directors of MDBs get paid.
So let’s break it all down.
World Bank: about $780,000 in salary and allowance
Ajay Banga has served as President of the World Bank Group since 2 June 2023, when he began a five-year term.
Unlike many international organisations, the World Bank actually published Banga’s appointment terms.
When he took office in 2023, his annual salary was $585,790. He also received a $104,860 non-pensionable allowance, intended for general representation expenses and housing. That put his initial salary and allowance at $690,650 per year.
But the data shows that his salary in 2025 was as follows:
This is therefore total annual compensation of ~$1.06 million. And don’t forget, this is net of tax!
An interesting comparison: the IMF pays almost exactly the same
Kristalina Georgieva began her second five-year term as Managing Director of the IMF on 1 October 2024.
Her published terms set an annual salary of $603,950 and a representation allowance of $108,110, giving $712,060 before subsequent adjustments. Both are explicitly stated to be net of income taxes.
The IMF contract then uses the same basic mechanism as the World Bank contract: salary and allowance are adjusted each July according to the Washington-area CPI.
Applying the relevant adjustments through July 2026 produces approximately:
Asian Development Bank: about $608,000 plus benefits
The Asian Development Bank also publishes unusually detailed remuneration information.
Masato Kanda became President of the ADB on 24 February 2025. The latest ADB remuneration disclosure, covering salaries as of 31 December 2025, gives the President an annual base salary of $561,004.
The President also receives a special representation allowance of $47,402, bringing identifiable annual cash remuneration to approximately $608,406. The ADB’s underlying disclosure confirms the $47,402 allowance.
ADB salaries are denominated in US dollars and are generally tax-exempt unless an official’s national authorities determine otherwise.
The President is also eligible for expatriate benefits similar to those available to international staff. These can include housing support, medical insurance, education assistance, pension benefits, life and disability insurance and home leave.
So $608,000 is better understood as salary plus representation allowance rather than the total economic value of the package.
Inter-American Development Bank: $516,310 salary, with a much larger package
Ilan Goldfajn is President of the Inter-American Development Bank.
The IDB’s latest detailed remuneration table I could verify reports, as of 31 December 2024, an annual net salary of $516,310 for the President.
The President also receives an Executive Allowance of $92,403.
In addition, the IDB reports $198,779 in budgeted benefits for the President’s grade. These include medical, life and disability insurance, accrued termination benefits and other non-salary benefits.
Adding these together gives:
There is a bit of a caveat though. The $198,779 benefits figure is a budgeted benefits amount, rather than $198,779 of additional cash paid directly to Goldfajn.
For a like-for-like comparison with the World Bank and IMF’s salary-plus-allowance figures, the more appropriate IDB number is therefore approximately $608,713 in cash remuneration, plus benefits.
The $807,492 figure is useful for estimating the broader compensation package, but it’s not quite defined as his salary.
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