WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said its executive board met yesterday to discuss a report prepared for the World Bank alleging that IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva pressured staff to alter data to favour China while serving as the bank’s CEO.
The board agreed to meet again soon for further discussions, said an IMF spokesman without giving a specific date.
“The board discussed the ethics committee’s deliberations so far, and had a preliminary exchange of views on the report and the managing director’s statement in response to it.”
The board emphasised “the importance it attached to conducting a thorough, objective and timely review, and agreed to meet again soon for a further discussion”.
Georgieva on Friday denied allegations that she pressured World Bank staff to alter data as it prepared its Doing Business 2018 report on country business climates.
“Let me put it very simply to you. Not true. Neither in this case, nor before or after, have I put pressure on staff to manipulate data,” she told IMF employees, according to a transcript of the meeting provided to Reuters.
The investigative report, prepared by law firm WilmerHale at the request of the World Bank’s ethics committee, found that Georgieva and other senior bank officials applied “undue pressure” on staff to boost China’s ranking in terms of business climate. – Reuters, September 22, 2021
