World Bank’s Malpass Weighed Changes That Threatened China Rank

  • Development lender later quashed 2021 report on Doing Business
  • Bank denies ratings played role in decision to shelve
David MalpassPhotographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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World Bank President David Malpass discussed altering the methodology of a high-profile report ranking countries’ business climates in ways that threatened to hurt China’s standing.

Those talks came more than a year before senior officials suspended publication of the report, which was ultimately quashed last week after an outside audit cited pressure over an earlier edition by then-top official Kristalina Georgieva, now head of the International Monetary Fund.