IMF questioned Kristalina Georgieva after scandal over alleged favors to Chinese regime

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday questioned the current Managing Director of the organization, Kristalina Georgieva, on the accusations against her when she was at the World Bank (WB), which indicate that he allegedly lobbied for better data in a report on the Chinese regime.

The spokesperson for the body, Gerry Rice, confirmed in a statement the meeting with Georgieva “within the framework of the current examination” after the internal audit which indicated that the current director general of the Fund lobbied to “make specific changes to Chinese data points” in a 2017 report.

This Monday, the management board had already questioned the lawyers of the firm Wilmer hale, responsible for the audit. “The Board of Directors of the Fund remains committed to full review, goal and timely and hope to meet again soon for more discussions, ”Rice added in the note.

The spokesperson, however, He avoided answering if Georgieva had attended the meeting with Wilmer Hale.

The IMF and the WB will hold their annual meeting next week, during which the two institutions will Give explanations about these allegations of professional misconduct that threaten to damage your credibility.

Wilmer Hale pointed out in a September 16 report that several senior WB officials, including Georgieva, they then pressured the agency “unduly” to improve the ranking of China in its periodic report “Doing Business”.

The objective was to improve their ranking at a time when the BM he sought the support of Beijing to increase his capital.

China’s position in the 2018 report, released in October 2017, should have been seven places lower, at 85th instead of 78th., the agency said in an internal review.

Following these accusations, the World Bank quashed the disclosure of the “Doing Business” report, one of his most influential publications.

Georgieva, for her part, said in a statement to be in disagreement “fundamental“With the conclusions and interpretations of this independent investigation.

He also accused the former bank president’s office of manipulation Jim Kong Kim, saying he had offered to include Hong Kong data in China’s ranking in the report Doing Business 2018 del Banco Mundial improve the position of the world’s second-largest economy.

WilmerHale’s report also pointed out irregularities in the data used to determine the classifications of Arabia Saudi and Azerbaijan in the report published in 2019, but She found no evidence that a member of the bank president’s office or the bank’s board of directors was involved in these changes. Saudi Arabia has grown 30 pitches up to 62nd place in the “Doing Business 2020” report.

WilmerHale said he was hired in January by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, one of the institutions that make up the World Bank, to examine the internal circumstances which led to the irregularities in the data. He added that the bank supported the investigation, but was completely independent.

“In the future, we will be working on a new orientation to assess the business and investment climate, ”the World Bank said in a statement.

“Let me tell you very simply. This is not true. Neither in this case, nor before nor after, did I put pressure on the staff to manipulate the data “Georgieva told IMF staff last month, according to a transcript of the meeting provided to the agency. Reuters.

The Bulgarian economist was Executive Director of the World Bank from January 2017 to October 1, 2019, before taking the head of the IMF to succeed the French Christine Lagarde.

This week’s talks could help increase or erode support for Georgieva, with many IMF shareholders keen to finalize board deliberations on the matter ahead of high-level meetings next week.

(With information from EFE and Reuters)

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