Washington, D.C.— Three members of the House Financial Services Committee, U.S. Representative Andy Barr (KY-06), U.S. Representative French Hill (AR-02), and U.S. Representative Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to review and report to Congress about the findings by the law firm WilmerHale, which concluded that current International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva pressured staff to manipulate the 2018 Doing Business Report to favor China while she was the Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank.
Rep. Barr, Rep. Hill, and Rep. Gonzalez said: “If the findings contained in the report by WilmerHale are substantiated, the IMF Board should reassess her position leading the Fund.”
In their letter to Secretary Yellen, they outlined concerns with how the Chinese Communist Party, in pursuing its self-interest, undermines and infiltrates multilateral institutions such as the Fund, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations, stating: “China feels entitled to a greater say in how these international organizations operate; its lack of commitment to multilateral values demonstrates why it must not be allowed to.”
The letter calls on Secretary Yellen to report to Congress within 30 days on the following:
- Recommendations to ensure strict and transparent data integrity in reports by the IMF and the World Bank, including appropriate firewalls to prevent data from being influenced by their respective leadership and member countries;
- Director Georgieva’s interactions with Chinese representatives at the Fund during her deliberations and decision-making process leading up to the August 2, 2021 announcement by the IMF Board of Governors to approve a $650 billion general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), which included an estimated $42 billion to the People’s Republic of China; and
- Advocacy by China with respect to potential shareholding changes at the conclusion of the IMF governance review, and an assessment of any inappropriate actions taken by Ms. Georgieva as a result of such advocacy.
For a full copy of the letter, click HERE.