Kristalina Georgieva will remain as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the lender’s board reviewed accusations that she improperly influenced a World Bank ranking of China’s business climate, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.
The fate of Georgieva - a Bulgarian economist and the first person from an emerging-market nation to run the IMF - had been in limbo since Sept. 16. That’s when a report written by law firm WilmerHale and commissioned by the World Bank, her previous employer, asserted that she pressured subordinates to boost China’s position in the bank’s influential “Doing Business” report.
“The executive board considered that the information presented in the course of its review did not conclusively demonstrate that the managing director played an improper role regarding the Doing Business 2018 Report when she was CEO of the World Bank,” the fund said in a statement following board deliberations on Oct. 11.
“Having looked at all the evidence presented, the executive board reaffirms its full confidence in the managing director’s leadership and ability to continue to effectively carry out her duties.”
The US - the largest shareholder in both the IMF and World Bank - had called the allegations regarding Georgieva’s time at the World Bank “serious” and debated calling for her resignation, Bloomberg News reported last week. Other major shareholders had held back from voicing support pending the outcome of the IMF’s internal review.
On October 11, the US decided that the allegations ultimately didn’t warrant removing Georgieva, a move that helped clear the way for her to stay.