The Executive Board of the IMF expressed support for its chief

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed support for its chief after examining allegations that Kristalina Georgieva was involved in data manipulation in favor of China during her time at the World Bank. However, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told the IMF chief that the US is ready to check for any new facts. The IMF's 24-member executive board issued a statement after a week-long examination that the information it had received during the period (including meetings with WilmerHale and Georgieva) could not unequivocally confirm that the current IMF chief The World Bank has committed unfair practices. The scandal involved alleged manipulation of data in a World Bank report known as Doing Business, which evaluates countries on the basis of business conditions. According to the law firm WilmerHale, during her time at the World Bank (January 2017-September 2019), the Bulgarian economist should have pushed employees to adjust the figures in favor of China, which was dissatisfied with its ranking. At that time, the World Bank negotiated a capital increase with Beijing. Georgieva became the head of the IMF on October 1, 2019. Georgie vehemently denied the allegations. She welcomed the statement from the IMF Executive Board and, as she said, is pleased that the allegations against it have proved unfounded. The head of the IMF has already received the support of France and other European countries last week, on the other hand the USA and Japan, which are the largest shareholders in the fund, called for a more thorough examination of the allegations, said a source familiar with IMF Executive Board meetings. Ultimately, however, these countries also agreed with the position of European members that there was no direct evidence against Georgieva regarding data manipulation. As reported by the US Treasury Department, he agrees with other board members that there is no reason to change IMF leadership due to a lack of direct evidence. However, according to Minister Janet Yellen, "the report raised legitimate questions and concerns and showed that IMF shareholders must be vigilant to ensure the integrity of the IMF and the World Bank."