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World Bank wrangles over Wolfowitz fate
The World Bank held annual talks yesterday with governments bitterly divided over the fate of its president Paul Wolfowitz, who is reeling from a pay scandal that threatens to undermine the lender's mission against global poverty.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:00 April 16, 2007
- World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz arrives at the Development Committee meeting during a final day of the IMF and World Bank spring meeting in Washington April 15, 2007.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Washington: The World Bank held annual talks yesterday with governments bitterly divided over the fate of its president Paul Wolfowitz, who is reeling from a pay scandal that threatens to undermine the lender's mission against global poverty.
Battle lines were drawn between European governments, which have long been suspicious of the former US deputy defence secretary, and a camp of supporters that includes the United States, Japan and some African countries.
Some ministers joined World Bank staff and campaigners in arguing that the controversy had left the credibility of Wolfowitz in tatters and imperiled the organisation's six-decade-old mission to alleviate grinding poverty.
Battling to hold on to his job, Wolfowitz said misleading information has been circulating over his involvement in a huge pay increase awarded to a close female friend. Wolfowitz has been under fire since it emerged that he secured a $193,590 (about Dh712,000) job for his companion, Shaha Riza, at the US State Department soon after he joined the World Bank in 2005.
In an e-mail to bank staff Saturday night, Wolfowitz said he had remained largely silent as the bank's board of directors considered his future as head of the lending organisation. "I feel, however, that this has left a vacuum, which has largely been filled by misleading information".
The bank's board, dominated by the US, Japan and European powers, is reviewing steps after documents showed Wolfowitz's clear involvement in Riza's deal. The package included an immediate $60,000 (Dh220,000) pay rise and guaranteed promotions.
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