The World Bank is bringing back its flagship annual report on the ease of doing business worldwide after a data manipulation scandal marred the last version, prompting the bank to scrap the project in 2021. There’s a new brand, a revised methodology, and a reformed mission focused on capturing a more honest snapshot of conditions for the private sector.
Norman Loayza, the director of the bank’s Global Indicators Group, which runs the project, told Devex the new system has safeguards in place to prevent a repeat of the disaster. The bank will start to roll out reports next year. Its reputation hangs in the balance, as does the fate of a project that was widely appreciated by investors.
The old Doing Business, which was cited widely from boardrooms to classrooms, was canceled after accusations that bank staff gave China preferential treatment in the report’s annual country rankings. Governments were also juking their own stats to get a higher spot in the list of business-friendly countries.
About the author
Shabtai Gold
Shabtai Gold is a Senior Reporter based in Washington. He covers multilateral development banks, with a focus on the World Bank, along with trends in development finance. Prior to Devex, he worked for the German Press Agency, dpa, for more than a decade, with stints in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, before relocating to Washington to cover politics and business.
