The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund on Monday reiterated its full confidence in Director-General Kristalina Georgieva after reviewing allegations that she pressured World Bank employees to change data in favor of China during her previous work at the bank.

The board said it was confident Georgieva's commitment to maintaining the highest standards of governance and integrity at the global lender.

Meanwhile, the Board said it intended to meet to consider possible additional steps to ensure the strength of institutional protection measures that maintain the impartiality of IMF staff and its channels of complaint, dissent, and accountability.

For her part, Georgieva stressed that this case was a "difficult stage on a personal level", reiterating that the accusations leveled against her are "unfounded".

Commenting on the decision, she said, "As the International Monetary Fund meets this week, I am honored to lead this very talented team that is working relentlessly to address the biggest global challenges, from combating COVID-19 and climate change to economic inequality."

The fund's 24 board members were deeply divided on the issue.

While France, the United Kingdom, and Europe in general have expressed support for Georgieva, the United States has expressed reservations about renewing confidence in her.

The IMF board said it had confidence in Georgieva's commitment to maintaining the highest standards of governance and integrity (French)

 The American position

In the wake of this, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Director-General of the International Monetary Fund - yesterday, Monday - that the report of the legal services company “Wilmer Hale” regarding allegations of data manipulation in the World Bank against the head of the Fund “raised legitimate issues and concerns,” but The lack of direct evidence means the change of leadership is not justified.

"Proactive steps must be taken to enhance data integrity and credibility at the IMF," Yellen said in a statement, and Georgieva and other IMF leaders must renew their commitment to supporting transparency in research, analysis, and policy.

Yellen told Director Georgieva that the priority now was to "preserve the integrity and credibility of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund."

"Secretary Yellen also reported that Treasury will monitor the follow-up process closely, assessing any new facts or findings, and that the Wilmer Hill report underscores the need for shareholders to be vigilant in defending the integrity of both the Bank and the Fund," the Treasury said in its statement.

The report by legal services firm Wilmer Hill claimed that when Georgieva was CEO of the World Bank in 2017, she lobbied bank staff to change data to raise China's ranking in the important Doing Business report.

The company's investigation is ongoing and will investigate further misconduct by World Bank staff in the 2017 China-related amendments and 2019 amendments to Doing Business data that affected other countries' rankings.

Georgieva assumed the position of Managing Director of the Fund on October 1, 2019, succeeding Christine Lagarde, who was appointed President of the European Central Bank.