Status: 10/12/2021 8:27 a.m.
She was accused of manipulating an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report in favor of China. The Executive Council nevertheless stood behind IMF boss Kristalina Georgieva.
The Executive Council of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) met eight times and has now expressed its “full confidence” to Director Kristalina Georgiewa. That was what the panel said last night. The 24-member Executive Council, on which the IMF member states and shareholders are represented, last discussed the allegations against Georgieva on Friday, Sunday and yesterday into the evening.
Country ranking influenced?
Georgieva was accused of influencing an important country ranking in favor of China in her previous top position at the World Bank. In 2017, she is said to have put pressure on employees to prevent China from slipping in the World Bank’s “Doing Business” ranking, according to an investigation by a law firm commissioned by the World Bank in September. After the changes, China was able to stay in 78th place – without the intervention of management, the country would have slumped to 85th place. The 68-year-old Bulgarian, a former EU commissioner, has been at the helm of the IMF for two years. She had always denied the allegations.
According to an investigation report, employees of the then World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Georgiewa did not want to scare Beijing away because of an imminent important capital increase for the World Bank. After the data was changed, Georgieva is said to have thanked the responsible head of unit by saying that he had made a contribution to multilateralism. In the assessment of the business climate in other countries, the report is said to have included irregularities in some cases.
“No basis for a change”
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who represents the largest shareholder in the IMF, said she had spoken to Georgieva about the serious allegations. Without further direct evidence of Georgia’s role, the US sees “no basis for a change in the leadership of the IMF”.
For the organizations based in Washington, the independent and non-political collection and compilation of international data is part of their core business. The data of the organizations are often also a basis for far-reaching decisions, for example when it comes to aid money. The World Bank has now announced that it will abolish the much-cited ranking. The alleged manipulation of data is a serious accusation for the World Bank and the IMF.
Annual meeting of IMF and World Bank discharged
However, the speculations are unlikely to remain without consequences. The US in particular wants to take “proactive steps” “to strengthen the integrity of the data collection and the credibility of the IMF,” as Yellen said. The Ministry of Finance will follow the processing closely.
The decision to hold on to the head of the IMF is now also relieving pressure from an ongoing annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank. The meeting of finance ministers, central bankers and representatives from the financial sector and development cooperation will take place this week – but only partially in Washington due to the pandemic. Georgiewa, for example, already moderated an event yesterday with UN Secretary General António Guterres.