Kristalina Georgieva was accused of having favored China in a report when working at the World Bank.
Le Monde with AFP
Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva saved his position as Director General of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), receiving the support of the institution’s board of directors, but it is very proven of these weeks of investigation.
The question of maintaining M me Georgieva, 68, at the head of the IMF had been asked since the publication on 16 September of the conclusions of a survey of the Wilmerhale law firm, conducted at the request of the World Bank Ethics Committee. The leader was accused of manipulating a report to promote China. She has always denied the facts.
“The Board of Directors considered that the information presented during its review did not conclusively demonstrate that the Director-General has played an inappropriate role on the” Doing Business 2018 “report when it was director. General of the World Bank “, according to an IMF release.
“After examining all the evidence presented, the Management Board reaffirms its full confidence in the leadership and the ability of the Director-General to continue to fulfill its functions”, adds the text.
“Difficult episode”
This announcement is made while the IMF and the World Bank started on Monday their autumn meetings with the backdrop of their integrity. The governing bodies add that they trust “in the commitment” of M me Georgieva “to maintain the best standards of governance and integrity at the IMF”.
However, the Board of Directors plans to meet in the future “to consider possible additional measures to ensure the solidity of the institution in terms of integrity.
For his part, M me Georgieva stressed that this case was “a difficult episode on the personal plan” while reaffirming that the facts were “unfounded”.
“While the IMF meets this week, I am honored to lead a talented team that works tirelessly to meet the world’s largest challenges, the fight against CVIV-19 to the fight against climate change and the fight against economic inequalities, “she also reacted.
European support against American reluctance
This case has deeply divided the 24 members of the IMF Board of Directors. If France, the United Kingdom and more widely Europe shared their support for M me Georgieva, the United States has shown more reluctant to keep it at its post.
And it is only at the end of nearly four weeks of discussions that the United States ended up rallying to Europeans who wanted the maintenance of M me Georgieva. The IMF has indicated a “full” and “objective” examination of this case, meeting eight times in total.
At a meeting with the Board, M me Georgieva had lamented “inaccuracies and erroneous assumptions made by the authors of the report”. She had parallel received the support of former leaders of the World Bank and renowned economists including Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winner.
For its part, the American treasure had blew the cold, highlighting the importance of having “a complete and fair report on all facts”. “Our primary responsibility is to preserve the integrity of the international financial institutions”, thus explained a spokesman Alexandra Lamanna.
Ms. Georgieva took the lead on October 1, 2019, replacing French Christine Lagarde who had been appointed to the European Central Bank. She was then the only candidate for this position.
According to a sharing of the roles inherited from the creation of the Bretton Woods institutions, the Fund is traditionally led by a European while the World Bank is in the hands of an American, currently David Malpass. In 2019, the IMF’s authorities had to change the statutes to be able to endorse the appointment of Ms. Georgieva who exceeded the age limit, then set at 65 years.