The World Bank has done away with a well-known report that rated the business environment of countries after an investigation showed senior bank management had pressured staff to change data that affected China and other nations’ rankings, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
The bank released reports Thursday (Sept. 16) that senior bank leaders, including then-World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva, who is now director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and then-World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, had pressured economists to improve China’s 2018 rankings, as they were trying to make it so China would support a boost in the bank’s funding, according to the report.
Georgieva said, per WSJ, that she disagrees “fundamentally with the findings and interpretations of the Investigation of Data Irregularities as it relates to my role in the World Bank’s Doing Business report of 2018.”
The report has long been viewed as a success, inspiring governments to improve the ability of businesses to get licenses, connect to electricity or pay taxes, which are all topics considered in the rankings, according to WSJ.
Chinese officials wanted to see a better ranking in 2018. That led to the officials allegedly holding meetings to see how to make changes to the report, WSJ stated, citing an investigative report from the law firm WilmerHale.
World Bank leaders came up with data points to change to help raise China’s score, including citing a new Chinese law about secured transactions as a reason China could be said to have improved upon its score for legal rights, according to the report.
In May, the World Bank said there was an abundance of global remittances sent out in 2020.
Read more: $540B Remittance Figure Higher Than World Bank Expectations
A total of $540 billion in remittances was sent to low- to middle-income nations, which was a 1.6% decline from 2019 and overall not as much of a downturn as was expected.
By contrast, the 2009 financial crisis sent remittances tumbling a whole 5%.
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