Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva criticized the findings of an independent investigation that accused her, as a top World Bank official, of pressuring staff to manipulate data on China’s business climate. The findings say Georgieva makes China’s Ease of Doing Business data appear more profitable.
In a statement she plans to pass on to IMF executives, Georgieva also accused the office of former World Bank president Jim Kong Kim of manipulation. He said he intervened to block a proposal from staff member Kim to include Hong Kong data in China’s ranking in the World Bank’s 2018 Doing Business report, which would significantly improve his position. In this regard, Kim has not responded to a request for comment.
The World Bank last week released an investigative report by law firm WilmerHale. It found that senior bank leaders including Georgieva put too much pressure on staff to change data to boost China’s ranking in the Ease of Doing Business report. Meanwhile, the bank is said to be seeking Chinese support for an increase in capital.
Georgieva, then chief executive of the World Bank, has condemned the investigation publicly and to her staff. He said the investigation findings contained false innuendo.
“The investigation findings contain a false insinuation that my colleagues and I at the World Bank will raise a country’s Doing Business rating in exchange for a capital commitment,” Georgieva said.
“To be clear, nothing like that has happened and nothing like that will ever happen under my leadership.”
Georgieva said her efforts to prevent Hong Kong data from being added to China’s Ease Doing Business rankings showed her concern for maintaining the integrity of the World Bank’s data.
The Bulgarian economist, the first person from a developing country to head the World Bank, has faced calls for him to resign over the issue, although his former colleagues have spoken out in his favour. The IMF board met on Tuesday to hear the initial report from the ethics committee and will meet again soon.
The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, on Friday said the findings detailing China’s undue influence on the World Bank and Georgieva’s role in manipulating Ease of Doing Business data at the behest of the Chinese government were deeply troubling.
“This has damaged the reputation of the World Bank, and also calls into question the current leadership of the IMF, where data integrity is critical to its mission. Moreover, undue influence by self-serving powers could put the stability of the global financial system at risk,” Waters said. .
The current World Bank president, David Malpass, said the findings of the WilmerHale investigation spoke for themselves, but had not commented on more detail.
(rah/rah)
– .
