On October 11, local time, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a statement supporting IMF Managing Director Christina Georgiyeva (Kristalina Georgieva), who was mired in the scandal of "ranking China in the 2018 Business Environment report".

The executive board of IMF consists of 24 executive directors who are responsible for day-to-day work and exercise all powers entrusted by the board. It is reported that during the "marathon" meeting over the past week, members of the executive board debated Georgiyeva's future and made a decision on the 11th.

"the board believes that no conclusive information was found during the review to prove that the president played an inappropriate role in the 2018 Business Environment report when he was CEO of the World Bank," said a statement posted on the IMF website. Having reviewed all the evidence, the Executive Board reaffirmed its full confidence in the leadership of the President and his ability to continue to perform his duties effectively. The Board of Directors believes in the commitment of the Managing Director to maintain the highest standards of governance and impartiality of the International Monetary Fund. "

Reuters reported on the 11th local time, according to other sources familiar with the matter, France and other European governments said last week that they wanted Georgiyeva to expire, while U. S. and Japanese officials pushed for a thorough review of the allegations.

According to Bloomberg reported on the 11th local time, the United States said to the IMF executive board that it would not seek to remove Georgiyeva. Bloomberg quoted anonymous sources as saying that this position was adopted during the deliberations of the board of directors on the 11th. Spokesmen for the U.S. Treasury Department and IMF declined to comment.

Cristina Georgiyeva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), visits China on November 21, 2019.

The whole story originated from a report prepared by the American law firm WilmerHale at the request of the World Bank Ethics Committee. The report said Georgiyeva used his power to "pressure" his employees during his tenure at the World Bank, causing them to revise their reporting methods to improve China's scores, eventually in the 2018 Business Environment report released in October 2017. China's ranking rose seven places to 78 from the original draft report. Georgiyeva strongly denies the accusation.

In response to the matter, Jeffrey Sachs (Jeffrey Sachs), the father of shock therapy and director of Columbia University's Center for Sustainable Development, wrote in the Financial Times on September 27th that Georgiyeva is now being persecuted by McCarthyism, and members of Congress don't care whether there is really "some government putting pressure on the IMF or the World Bank to move up the rankings." after all, the United States itself often does. All they care about is whether those institutions will do anything good for China.

In addition, Shanta de Valajan, a former Harvard professor and professional in charge of the World Bank project in 2018, explicitly denied that Georgiyeva had put any pressure on him and his team. After her departure, the ranking in China's Business Environment report soared to 31st, a further indication that the 2018 ranking was no surprise.

France and other European governments are urging a quick resolution of the matter ahead of this week's annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, when Georgiyeva and World Bank President David David Malpass will lead discussions on issues such as global recovery from a pandemic, debt relief and efforts to speed up vaccination, Reuters reported. According to sources, the United States and Japan warned not to reconfirm their confidence in IMF leaders prematurely.

According to reports, IMF and World Bank staff said that no matter who was responsible, the scandal damaged the reputation of their research and raised questions about whether their work was affected by member states.

Malpas declined to comment on the IMF process on the 11th, but said the World Bank was working to improve the accuracy of its research, including its chief economist Carmen Reinhart as part of the bank's 10-member senior management team, according to Reuters.