IMF scandal grows over Kristalina Georgieva’s favors to Chinese regime

Kristalina Georgieva never believed that a favor done to China could jeopardize your position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, after the world Bank released a pithy report on his conduct in which he revealed the entire intrigue, the fate of the current head of the agency appears to have taken a 180-degree turn. The event was reported by the press on September 16 and generated a worldwide scandal.

In this sudden statement, the World Bank said: “The data changes for China in Doing Business 2018 appear to be the product of two different types of pressure applied by the bank’s management within the Doing Business team.”. The body directed against Georgieva for “hurry” for “make specific changes to China’s data in a bid to improve its ranking at the same time the country was expected to play a key role in the bank’s fundraising campaign”.

But in the last few hours the pressure on Giorgieva seems to have increased. According to Bloomberg, the secretary of United States Treasury I would no longer answer his calls, which shows the seriousness of the matter. “Janet Yellen has refused to answer calls from struggling International Monetary Fund director Kristalina Georgieva since the scandal broke, saying the Biden administration’s refusal to back her goes beyond her public statements.“, Underlined the journalists Saleha Mohsin and Eric Martin.

Since Georgieva was accused earlier this month of falsifying a World Bank report to her previous job there, she attempted to speak to Yellenbut did not, said people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity with Bloomberg. The law firm’s report WilmerHale, ordered by the world Bank, alleged that Georgieva – who took over the management of the IMF in 2019 – lobbied bank staff to raise the business climate rating of China.

The decision of Yellen Avoiding the interviewed IMF Managing Director is a blow to the structure of the credit agency. Georgieva He previously had easy access to the U.S. Treasury Secretary, people familiar with the relationship said. It is thanks to the natural proximity and the multilateral relationship between the IMF and the treasure. The couple spoke regularly earlier this year, according to the calendars of Yellen, while United States and the IMF they were working on initiatives such as the $ 650,000 million global reserve injection planned by the Fund.

United States is the largest shareholder of the IMF and of world Bank, and the Treasury Department manage these relationships. The spokesperson for treasure, Alexandra La Manne, declined to comment on the lack of contact between Yellen and Georgieva. An IMF spokesperson also declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for Georgieva.

“The IMF’s credibility is clearly undermined“, noted Timothy ash, strategist of BlueBay asset management to London and seasoned emerging market analyst. I affirm that Georgieva it should be set aside until the investigations are completed. An official of the treasure he said that the ministry has reviewed the allegations of misconduct and considers them to be of concern and serious. This agency is awaiting the IMF’s own assessment, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The IMF’s ethics committee is currently reviewing the findings of the report commissioned by the World Bank.

Pressure in the Senate

For its part, A pair of bipartisan senators called on Secretary Yellen to find a “total responsibility“After an investigation revealed that theThe Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, unduly influenced a pro-China report in her previous post at the World Bank.

Investigation by law firm WilmerHale found that Georgieva, while she was the top official at the World Bank, pushes to strengthen China’s position in the 2018 Doing Business report. Georgieva said she “fundamentally” disagreed with the findings.

“Given the importance that this data is and is considered to be irreproachable, These allegations are deeply disturbing, ”said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menéndez., a Democrat from New Jersey and senior member Jim Risch from Idaho, in a September 22 letter, seen by Bloomberg on Monday. “The impact these allegations could have on the strength and reputation of our international financial institutions and the Bretton Woods system is still unknown, but they will surely not be good.”

September 24, Maxine Waters, California Democracy and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said WilmerHale’s review findings were “of great concern,” that the situation has undermined the reputation of the World Bank and called into question the leadership of the IMF.

On September 22, Representative French Hill, Republican of Arkansas and one of the most vocal critics in Congress, of the allocation of IMF drawing rights last month for $ 650 billion, and two other members of Congress they asked the Treasury to provide recommendations to ensure strict and transparent data integrity in IMF and World Bank reports.

The United States has a right of veto over major decisions of the IMF and the World Bank.

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