Washington DC [US]: The World Bank Group has decided to discontinue publication of its Doing Business report following allegations of irregularities. The decision was taken after a probe of data irregularities due to pressure by some top bank officials to boost China’s ranking in 2017 came forth. The Doing Business report assesses regulatory environments, ease of business startups, infrastructure and other business climate measures. “After reviewing all the information available to date on Doing Business, including the findings of past reviews, audits, and the report the Bank released today (Thursday) on behalf of the Board of Executive Directors, World Bank Group management has taken the decision to discontinue the Doing Business report,” it said in a statement posted on the website. “The World Bank Group remains firmly committed to advancing the role of the private sector in development and providing support to governments to design the regulatory environment that supports this,” it said. “Going forward, we will be working on a new approach to assessing the business and investment climate. We are deeply grateful to the efforts of the many staff members who have worked diligently to advance the business climate agenda, and we look forward to harnessing their energies and abilities in new ways,” said the statement. The probe of data irregularities cited ‘undue pressure’ by top bank officials, including then-Chief Executive Kristalina Georgieva, to boost China’s ranking in 2017. Georgieva, now the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund, and a key adviser pressured staff to ‘make specific changes to China’s data points’ and boost its ranking at a time when the Bank was seeking China’s support for a big capital increase.
