IMF board gets initial briefing on Georgieva role in China

The International Monetary Fund said that its executive board met and discussed a report prepared for the World Bank. It also alleged that IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, while she was the CEO pressured staff to alter data to favor China. To discuss further the board will meet again. A spokesperson said that the Board discussed the Ethics Committee’s deliberations so far. They also had a preliminary exchange of views on the report.

He also added that the board emphasized that the importance they attached to conducting a thorough, objective, and timely review and agreed to meet again. Georgieva denied allegations that she pressured World Bank staff to alter data. She told IMF staff that it is not true. Neither in this case, nor before or after, that she had put pressure on staffs to manipulate data. These statements were according to a transcript of the meeting.

The investigative report was prepared by the law firm WilmerHale. This is by the request of the World Bank‘s ethics committee. They found that Georgieva and other senior World Bank officials applied pressure on staff to boost China’s ranking in terms of business climate.