29 October 2007
As World Bank President Robert Zoellick works to secure IDA funds, an influential U.S. Democratic senator calls for changes at the institution.
On October 26, United States Senator Evan Bayh, chairman of the Senate banking subcommittee on international trade and finance, sent a letter to World Bank President Robert Zoellick calling on him to carry out reforms to the institution.
The Financial Times reported that in the letter Senator Bayh took issue with how the Bank measures success in its projects. Too often, Bayh argued, success is defined by the amount of money transferred rather than if the money spent actually produces results. Bayh’s letter is significant in that it signals a break by some influential Democrats, who have long been considered the Bank's traditional allies, to siding with conservatives calling for institutional changes.
Bayh’s letter comes at a time of uncertainty for the World Bank. President Zoellick is trying to chart a new course for the institution and improve its image scarred by a corruption scandal with its controversial former president, Paul Wolfowitz. Zoellick is also working with Congress to gain more funding for the International Development Association (IDA), the Bank’s lending arm to poor countries, while pressing forward with the internal reforms launched by his predecessor.
Furthermore, the letter touched on several concerns Congress has with the World Bank, from its use of taxpayer dollars to fund middle income countries who have other resources to draw from such as China, to the lack of transparency within the organization, as well as the “excessive” salaries and benefits enjoyed by employees of an institution whose mission is to alleviate poverty.
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