"I am pleased to announce that I will nominate Bob Zoellick to be the 11th president of the World Bank," Bush said in a formal announcement at the White House.

"Bob Zoellick has had a long and distinguished career in diplomacy and development economics. It has prepared him well for this new assignment," said the US president.

By nominating Zoellick, a consensus-builder on issues ranging from global trade to strife in Darfur, Bush is seeking to put an end to the favoritism scandal that forced Paul Wolfowitz to resign and roiled the World Bank for weeks.

Asked what priorities Zoellick would bring to the post, White House spokesman Tony Snow said: "The priorities are continuing to work in the developing world."

"Paul Wolfowitz also made it clear that one of the priorities is to concentrate on the poorest countries, giving them the capacity to develop, to develop in a way that's going to make it possible to provide better lives and longer lives for the people who live there," said Snow.

The World Bank's 24-member board of governors must approve the nomination of Zoellick, a vice chairman at Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Wolfowitz agreed on May 17 to step down on June 30 to end a scandal over a generous pay-and-promotion package he arranged for his companion, a bank employee.