The International Monetary Fund announces its decision “very soon” on Georgieva’s future | Economie

Kristalina Georgieva’s future will be resolved within days. After questioning the Director-General herself and lawyers who investigated alleged malpractice when she was in charge of the World Bank, the Executive Committee of the International Monetary Fund announced in the early hours of Saturday that it would make a decision. “Very soon” for its continuity. An audit of law firm WilmerHale in mid-September revealed an alleged favorable treatment of China in the World Bank’s star-studded report, Ranking of Countries Doing Business. According to the investigations, Georgieva, whose future largely depends on what the United States decides, would have “unnecessarily” pressured officials who depended on her for the Asian giant to climb positions in a rating ordering states through the facilities it gives to do business. .

In the note published on Saturday (European time), the International Monetary Fund reported “significant progress” in the process after interviewing the two parties, although it indicated it would seek “new clarifying details” before making a final decision. Reading between the lines, this statement does not provide good news for Georgieva: had he ignored the signs of bad practice targeted by the review, the fund would have shut the matter down immediately. But this was not the case. “The Executive Committee remains committed to a comprehensive, objective and timely review,” the letter adds, reiterating language that has held firm since the World Bank published the findings of the organization’s own investigation to highlight the matter.

WilmerHale’s research concludes that 2018 edition subordinate Doing Business China should have been seven places below its final spot: had it not been for the alleged pressure, it would have been ranked 85th out of 190 countries instead of 78th. This artificial improvement in its results occurred in the fall of 2017, when the agency needed acquiescence — and money — from the force Second world capital expansion, such as It ended up happening In April of the following year. When the allegations surfaced three weeks ago, the World Bank made the decision to scrap future editions of this once influential report.

For her part, Georgieva denied the accusations, which she described as “false and misleading.” She said in a statement after being questioned by the organization that she herself directs. Next week, both the IMF and the World Bank Celebrating their traditional annual meeting, which the two institutions reached in 2021 with a huge reputational impact.

EE UU, stick

In a climate of perpetual economic confrontation between the United States – the IMF’s largest shareholder, to which it gives 16.5% of voting rights – and China – the third-largest shareholder, with just over 6% of voting rights – the ball is now in the states court.

The European bloc, the continent from which all of the organization’s managing directors have sprung up since its founding, backed Georgieva without problems when she jumped from the World Bank to the fund in October 2019 and appears to have chosen its continuity. The Bulgarian economist has extensive experience in Brussels, where she worked as a commissioner for six years and was respected by governments and senior officials.

However, given that the five largest economies in the European Union (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands) account for just over 16% of the capital, much of what happens to their future will depend on what Washington and Tokyo decide. It is the second largest shareholder, and has a slightly larger share of power than Beijing – and from alliances that could be formed with other major partners such as the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Canada or Brazil.