IMF needs to speed up handling of internal complaints - Georgieva

The International Monetary Fund should speed up its handling of internal complaints and further strengthen internal safeguards, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday. Georgieva told Reuters she was pleased that the IMF's first comprehensive review of data integrity standards had generally found "robust mechanisms" for institutional governance, but said there were ways to reinforce them.

The International Monetary Fund should speed up its handling of internal complaints and further strengthen internal safeguards, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday.

Georgieva told Reuters she was pleased that the IMF's first comprehensive review of data integrity standards had generally found "robust mechanisms" for institutional governance, but said there were ways to reinforce them. "We have some ideas on how to make them even stronger and actually get people to feel comfortable to express their views," Georgieva said in an interview, without giving details about potential changes. "If they are critical, great. This means they are comfortable to say what they think."

Georgieva said a common theme was that it took the fund "forever" to resolve internal complaints, and that process should be accelerated. "We want this institution to be ... excellent for our staff, especially on the count of making it more conducive for people to step forward and speak up," she said, underscoring the importance of open and inclusive debate.

The internal survey, released last Thursday, showed that nearly 20% of IMF staff felt their work had been "unduly influenced" by supervisors and that the institution did not give enough weight to dissenting views. The review was launched last year by the IMF's executive board following allegations in September 2021 that Georgieva had pressured World Bank staff to alter data to favour China in 2017 when she was chief executive of the development lender.

After a weeks-long investigation of the matter, the board decided to keep Georgieva as managing director but continued a review of the Fund's data-integrity policies. Asked if she was disappointed that see that 20% of the staff perceived undue pressure, Georgieva said she was "curious to see the result."

"One thing that we need to keep in mind is that people understand pressure differently," she said. "It may be not necessarily (that) undue pressure means that somebody is picking on you to change your mind."

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