The World Bank's "Doing Business" ranking, one of the most scrutinized by investors, gauges the competitiveness and attractiveness of 190 countries each year. But its credibility is being questioned.

According to an internal investigation that released its findings this week, it appears that the data of several countries have been manipulated to favor some such as China, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, especially in 2017 and 2019. The World Bank promises to clean up to save the credibility of its ranking.

"Taxation", "access to credit", "ease to create a business", the World Bank screens about forty indicators to establish its annual ranking of countries where it is good to do business. Suffice to say that its conclusions are expected, watched.

Pressures

We now know that pressure has been exerted internally to favour certain States. It was the management of the group that, alerted, conducted its investigation. Out of about fifteen agents interviewed, nine said they had been directly or indirectly pressured to change their conclusions, almost all of them gave in.

For example, in the 2017 report, China should have fallen seven places but it was kept in 78th place. The report does not mention exactly who would have exerted the pressure, but each time the interventions were made outside the due process. What the World Bank would like to make impossible now.

Doubts

The credibility of a ranking that is not at its first question is now at stake. Two years ago, an economist at the Bank, Paul Romer, expressed doubts about the political motivations of some of the institution's officials when Chile, which had just elected the socialist Michèle Bachelet, then dropped in the "Doing Business" ranking. However, the banker was forced to resign after his remarks.