Questioning of Deputy Secretary comes after reports that the then World Bank CEO altered data describing the business climate in China
WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today questioned Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, about what the department is doing to safeguard the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund against corruption by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“Last month, the law firm of WilmerHale released findings from its investigation into data irregularities with the important World Bank ‘Doing Business’ reports. These reports bill themselves as ‘providing objective measures of business regulations for local firms in some 190 economies.’ The report found that the data describing the business climate in China was changed because of pressure by then World Bank CEO, Kristalina Georgieva. Her goal evidently was to inflate China’s ranking at precisely the time that China was going to help the World Bank increase its capital. A clear conflict of interest. Despite legitimate issues and concerns, the Biden Administration continues to support Dr. Georgieva to continue to lead the IMF. So, Deputy Secretary, what steps is Treasury taking to ensure that the World Bank and the IMF are safeguarded against corruption by the Chinese Communist Party,” Senator Hagerty asked.
The Deputy Secretary acknowledged to Hagerty they “saw issues that were of serious concern” and that they made “very clear […] and directly to the managing director that changes need to be made to ensure that whistleblowers’ rights are protected, that the integrity of the institutions are protected, which is our overarching goal, and that we will be holding her and the other leaders of the international financial institutions accountable for making these changes.”
In September, Hagerty called for a full investigation of this pay-to-play scheme. Hagerty also expressed his displeasure last week with President Biden’s lack of action to demand the IMF Board impose accountability to preserve the World Bank and IMF’s integrity, saying that the CCP would only be further emboldened by this failure to respond and that Congress would have to scrutinize any legislation that would support institutions corrupted by the CCP.
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