The World Bank on Thursday confirmed that it will be discontinuing the ‘Doing Business’ report used to assess investment climate in countries after data irregularities were found in 2018 and 2020.
In August 2020, the World Bank had halted the publication of the ‘Doing Business’ report following a number of irregularities reported related to changes in the data.
As per the official statement released by the World Bank, the decision was taken after an assessment of all information available on Doing Business, including the findings of past reviews, audits, and the report. The Bank found that the rankings were rigged, with its staff members awarding some countries with favourable rankings in lieu of helping the Bank.
The investigative report on data Irregularities in Doing Business 2018 and Doing Business 2020 cited the role of International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and her advisor to deviously improve the rankings of China.
“The changes to China’s data in Doing Business 2018 appear to be the product of two distinct types of pressure applied by bank leadership on the Doing Business team,” the World Bank report said.
The report said “pressure” applied by CEO Georgieva and her advisor, Mr Djankov, to make specific changes to China’s data points in an effort to increase its ranking at precisely the same time the country was expected to play a key role in the bank’s capital increase campaign.
However, Georgieva disputed the findings of the investigative report, which found that in her previous job at the World Bank, she pressed staff to alter a report to avoid attracting China’s ire.
“I disagree 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,” she said in a statement.
At the same time, the investigation also found that changes in Saudi Arabia’s and UAE’s data in Doing Business Report 2020 was likely the outcome of efforts by a senior Bank staff member to “achieve a desired outcome and reward Saudi Arabia for the crucial role it played in the Bank community, including its significant and ongoing RAS projects”.
After the irregularities raised ethical matters involving former bank staff and board officials, The World Bank said it would work on a new approach to review countries’ business and investment climate.
World Bank report susceptible to manipulation: WSJ Report
Earlier last year, after the World Bank had put a halt to its “Ease of Doing Business” Ranking report, the Wall Street Journal reported that the reason could be because the report was susceptible to manipulation.
According to the report, the data of four countries – China, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – could have been inappropriately altered. It is pertinent to note that all 4 countries that were under scanner ranked higher than India in the report released in 2019 Ease of Doing Business Rankings by the World Bank.
The WSJ report quoted World Bank officials saying, “It is beginning a systematic review of the data, launching an independent audit of the process, and that it would correct the data”.
The World Bank has reportedly said that the reports that were released in October 2017 and October 2019 could have been affected with these data manipulations and that owing to the audit, the report that was set to release in October 2020 would be delayed.
