World Bank chief Zoellick stepping down in June

WASHINGTON - The president of the World Bank says he is stepping down.

Robert Zoellick informed the 187-nation lending organization's board Wednesday that he will leave office June 30, the end of his five-year term.

The board now begins a selection process to find a new leader, a process that is expected to be more open than in the past. Under an informal agreement dating to the bank's founding nearly 68 years ago, its president has been an American.

Under Zoellick's leadership the bank says it provided more than $247 billion to help developing countries boost growth and overcome poverty.