World Bank President Robert Zoellick to step down on June

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Wednesday he will step down in June and Washington pledged to name a replacement candidate within weeks for a job that has always gone to an American, the Reuters reports.

The Obama administration said it would open the process to competition, marking the first time it has shown willingness to loosen its grip on the world's top development lender.

Zoellick took the reins at the Bank in 2007 after a staff revolt pushed out Paul Wolfowitz, and he moved quickly to return the institution's focus to alleviating poverty, says the Reuters.

In an interview with Reuters, Zoellick said his decision to leave on June 30 at the end of his five-year term was his own and was not due to pressure from the Obama administration.

The former U.S. chief trade negotiator and deputy secretary of state dismissed speculation he would join a Republican presidential campaign as "not true," saying only that he would decide what to do next once he leaves the World Bank.

"It really was my own decision," Zoellick said. "My personal sense is it's time to move on and I think once you feel that way you shouldn't stay."