After allegations of manipulation: World Bank abolishes country ranking list


After allegations of manipulation
World Bank abolishes country ranking list

The World Bank is said to have improved a ranking of the economic friendliness of economies in order to put China in a better light. An internal report reveals this. Apparently high-ranking executives are involved. The ranking list is now being discontinued for the time being.

After allegations of manipulation, the World Bank ceases to publish an annual ranking that evaluates the economic friendliness of countries. The occasion is an investigation report by the law firm WilmerHale, according to which leading representatives of the World Bank – including the current head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgiewa – are said to have exerted “inappropriate pressure” to get China better in the ranking of the “Doing Business” report for 2018 to cut off. China finally landed in 78th place after initially being 85th in the first draft. The World Bank withdrew the report after the investigation revealed the origins of the country ratings.

Georgieva, who was the managing director of the World Bank at the time, firmly denied the allegations. She said she disagreed with the findings and interpretations of the investigation into data irregularities related to her role in the Doing Business report for 2018. She met with the IMF Executive Board to discuss the matter. In addition to Georgiewa, the then World Bank President Jim Yong Kim is at the center of the allegations.

According to the report, senior officials in his office were likely to press “direct and indirect” pressure on him to change the methodology used to produce the report in favor of China. WilmerHale also pointed to irregularities in the data used to determine the ranking for Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan in the “Doing Business” report for 2020. However, no indications of an involvement of the World Bank leadership were found here. The World Bank said it would work on a new approach to assessing a country’s investment climate and business friendliness.

The annual publication of the report attracted media attention worldwide. Concerns about the report first became public in 2018 when World Bank chief economist Paul Romer said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he was concerned that the report was vulnerable to campaigns to alter its data for political purposes. The World Bank denied that the report was tampered with; Romer resigned shortly afterwards.

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