The World Bank has never fired its president in its more than 60-year history. That could change this week. The bank’s board of shareholder nations will meet as soon as Tuesday, possibly followed by a second meeting, to decide whether Paul Wolfowitz will be forced out or given the chance to negotiate his departure.
World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz will defend his handling of a promotion and pay increase for his girlfriend on Monday to a special panel, whose investigation will ultimately determine if he wins his fight to stay on as head of the development institution.
World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz cancelled a speech to a health conference on Thursday as the bank’s board met late into the night to discuss a controversy over the promotion of his girlfriend, which has paralysed the poverty-fighting institution. The bank’s staff association, which has led the calls for Wolfowitz to step down, called on the board, which usually operates in secret, to make its decision public.
The woman at the centre of a scandal that could force the resignation of World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz says she has been victimised and forced to take a transfer she never wanted in the first place. Shaha Riza said she was surprised when told she had to take an outside assignment because of her relationship with Wolfowitz.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz criticised rich countries, including the United States, for failing to increase aid to needy developing nations at a time when some African economies were about to ”turn the corner”. Some key economies were improving, he said, but the countries still needed aid to make the most of new opportunities.
The stability of the global financial system is being bolstered by favourable economic conditions, but some financial market risks have crept up in recent months, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday. The IMF pointed to potential risks from the rapid decline in the United States subprime mortgage market, involving borrowers with poor credit history.
The World Bank’s employee organisation has questioned the promotion and pay raise of a female staffer it says is involved with bank president Paul Wolfowitz. The bank’s Staff Association demanded an explanation from Wolfowitz for what it called ”violations of staff rules in favour of a staff member closely associated with the president”.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz hopes the United States will be a leader, not a follower, when it comes to committing new funds for the world’s poorest countries in negotiations of the bank’s 40 biggest donors starting in Paris next week. Wolfowitz said he also hoped for new money from emerging lenders like rich oil-producing countries.
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/ 29 November 2006
The Central African Republic this week cleared its arrears to the World Bank, thanks to a loan by the French government and a grant by the World Bank, that will restore its ties with international donors, a senior bank official said on Tuesday. The move comes as the former French colony tries to resurrect ties with the international community after years of political and economic instability.
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/ 19 October 2006
After starting out as just small loans for the poor, microfinance has mushroomed into a large market that is attracting big banks, technology billionaires, and last week brought its innovator the Nobel Peace Prize. The business of lending small amounts of money to the poor who are unable to access loans elsewhere was once considered unfathomable by the financial mainstream.