Chile Slams World Bank Amid Charges of Political Bias
By Pascale Bonnefoy and Ernesto Londoño
Jan. 13, 2018
SANTIAGO, Chile Chiles outgoing president, Michelle Bachelet, criticized the World Bank on Saturday after an economist said that her countrys poor showing in an influential survey of global business conditions may actually have reflected a political bias against her left-leaning government.
The outcry came after the banks chief economist, Paul Romer, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on Friday that while Chiles ranking has fallen in the banks yearly Doing Business report, which investors watch closely, business conditions did not get worse in Chile during the Bachelet era.
He added that he did not have confidence in the integrity of the data and methodology that led to Chiles negative assessments and offered a personal apology to the country.
The statement has started a political firestorm in Chile, where the candidate from Ms. Bachelets leftist coalition was defeated in last months presidential election, a race in which economic policy was a decisive issue. Ms. Bachelet, who leaves office in March, was barred by term limits from seeking re-election.
More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/world/americas/chile-world-bank-michelle-bachelet-augusto-lopez-claros.html
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https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141961152