World Bank President David Malpass. Credit: UK DFID
The controversy sparked by the World Bank’s admission that one of its key reports had been manipulated in China’s favor has brought an enduring question back into focus: Why does the world’s second-largest economy still borrow so much from the leading global development institution?
The Washington, D.C.-based World Bank last month abruptly canceled its flagship 'Doing Business’ report, an annual ranking of countries based on how favorable their environment is for business. The announcement came after an internal investigation revealed that senior bank management, including the International Monetary Fund’s current managing director Kristalina Georgieva, had pressured staff to shift China up the rankings in 2017 — just as a broader debate over the bank’s funding was taking place.
China’s desire to move up the Doing Business rankings was hardly unusual, says Timothy Ash, an emerging markets strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, as the report did have some in
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