WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced on Monday that he will be stepping down from his position after more than six years at the international lending institution.

World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will assume the role of interim president effective Feb. 1, the World Bank said in a statement.

Kim's resignation from the World Bank was unexpected as he was appointed to a second five-year term as president of the multilateral development bank in 2016.

Kim first became the 12th president of the World Bank on July 1, 2012. Before this post, he served as president of the famous U.S. academic institution Dartmouth College.

"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," Kim said in a statement.

"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," he said.

Immediately after his departure, Kim will join a firm and focus on increasing infrastructure investments in developing countries, the World Bank said, adding the details of this new position will be announced shortly. Enditem

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