China data rigging scandal: Decision on IMF chief’s job ‘very soon’
- IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva is accused of rigging data in China's favour
- International Monetary Fund said it had made significant progress in its investigation
- Georgieva, who has denied the allegations, said she had answered 'all questions'
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will decide “very soon” on its managing director Kristalina Georgieva’s future at the global financial body. IMF’s executive board said late Friday that it is seeking more “clarifying details” as it probes allegations that Georgieva pressured staff at the World Bank to manipulate data to improve China’s business rankings.
The IMF Executive Board said it has made “significant progress” in its investigation but agreed “to request more clarifying details with a view to very soon concluding its consideration of the matter.”
In a own statement, Georgieva said she had answered “all questions that have been put to me.”
The 68-year-old said she hoped for an “expeditious resolution” of the case.
Law firm WilmerHale that found that during her time as World Bank CEO, Georgieva was among top officials who pressured staff into changing data to China‘s benefit in the 2018 edition of its closely watched Doing Business report.
Georgieva has repeatedly denied the report’s conclusions, and on Thursday released a letter from her attorney to the board objecting to WilmerHale’s findings, as well as her 12-page testimony to the 24 board members.
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The law firm found that Georgieva along with her associate Simeon Djankov, a former Bulgarian finance minister who created the report, and Jim Yong Kim, then-president of the bank, pressured staff to change the calculation of China’s ranking to placate Beijing.
The report prompted the World Bank to discontinue the annual Doing Business report, which China and other countries had used to attract foreign business investment.
The IMF and World Bank will hold their annual meetings next week in Washington.
Meanwhile, Georgieva has won the support of France and other European countries, news agency AFP quoted a source as saying.
The United States, a key member of the IMF, has not yet stated its position on this controversy.
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