The New York Times Reports today that Paul Wolfowitz’s aggressive anticorruption campaign at the World Bank (WB) has faced strong opposition. While nobody seems to dispute that corruption is a serious problem in development, critics to Mr. Wolfowitz initiative believe that his aggressive campaign can put the World Bank’s mission of reducing poverty at risk.
When asked about Mr. Wolfowitz’s aggressive moves to curb corruption a former WB staffer argued that,
“Anticorruption efforts are an essential part of development finance,” said Roberto Dañino, a senior vice president of the bank until early this year. “But getting rid of corruption is not a silver bullet. The bank should not overemphasize its anticorruption agenda at the expense of other policies required for development.”
I urge everybody to read this article because it sparks an interesting debate. When should a country be cut-off from lending? Should funding be cut off for life saving programs if there is widespread corruption in how these funds are being spend? What benchmarks should be used?
Published Date: September 14, 2006