UNITED NATIONS - A former Turkish economics minister, Kemal Dervis, was named on Tuesday to become the head of the U.N. Development Program, the world body's largest agency with a nearly $3 billion annual budget.

Dervis, chosen by Secretary-General Kofi Annan after a lengthy review process, will be the first UNDP administrator from a recipient rather than a donor nation, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in announcing the candidacy.

A member of the Turkish parliament, Dervis was responsible for Turkey's financial recovery program in 2001 when he served as minister for economic affairs and the treasury.

If the board of UNDP, a semi-independent agency, and the 191-member U.N. General Assembly approve, Dervis, 56, will replace Mark Malloch Brown, Annan's new chief of staff who is coping with a series of scandals besetting the organization.

Diplomats said the selection process came down to six candidates and then to two- Dervis and Hilde Johnson, Norway's minister for international development.

"Mr. Dervis has outstanding qualifications and numerous accomplishments in the area of economics and global governance," Dujarric said.

A graduate of the London School of Economics, Dervis received his doctorate from Princeton University where he also taught economics. He worked for the World Bank until he returned to Turkey.

Dervis became economics minister in 2001, shortly after the collapse of the Turkish lira that halved its value and sent overnight interest rates to more than 5,000 percent. He is credited with leading a recovery and adjustment program that stabilized the economy and lowered inflation.

Dervis also restricted political interference in the economy, which had contributed to Turkey's financial ills.

UNDP, with 4,000 staff in 166 countries, is the largest U.N. specialized agency. Its administrator assumes the rank of a U.N. undersecretary-general and is No. 3 in the U.N. hierarchy, after Annan and his deputy, Louise Frechette.