World Bank suspends Doing Business report to probe data irregularities
The World Bank says it has paused the publication of its annual Doing Business report because it has discovered cases of data manipulation by some countries.
In a statement on Thursday, the World Bank said irregularities were discovered in the 2018 and 2020 editions of the report.
“A number of irregularities have been reported regarding changes to the data in the Doing Business 2018 and Doing Business 2020 reports, published in October 2017 and 2019. The changes in the data were inconsistent with the Doing Business methodology,” the statement read.
“We are conducting a systematic review and assessment of data changes that occurred subsequent to the institutional data review process for the last five Doing Business reports.
“We have asked the World Bank Group’s independent internal audit function to perform an audit of the processes for data collection and review for Doing Business and the controls to safeguard data integrity.”
The Bretton Wood institution said the data of countries found to be most affected by the irregularities will be corrected adding the authorities from these countries have been briefed on the situation.
The Doing Business report ranks countries based on their business regulations and the ease of access to the infrastructure needed to keep businesses running.
In the most recent report published in October 2019, Nigeria moved up by 15 places to 131 from its 2019 spot and was listed among the top 20 reformers in ease of doing business.
It is a common knowledge within the World Bank that Simeon Djankov has been fixing the data. No doubt this audit is looking to sweep all the “dirt” under the carpet, rather than exposing it.