Emerging markets can deal with gradual Fed taper - World Bank's Kim

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Emerging markets could adjust to the withdrawal of the Federal Reserve's massive monetary stimulus as long as it happens gradually, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said on Tuesday.

Fed chief Ben Bernanke shocked emerging markets in May when he raised the possibility that the U.S. central bank could soon embark on a draw-down in its $85 billion a month bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing.

"If the tapering happens over a longer period of time, gradually - which is what we would expect -- ... we think that the emerging economies, especially in the poor countries, can adjust," Kim told reporters.

(Reporting by Anna Yukhananov; Editing by James Dalgleish)