'Action On Fund Misuse To Steer Clear Of Politics'

Where there is corruption in projects in which we are involved, we will cancel them. What we cannot do is run every country where we operate, he said at a press conference to wrap up the annual World Bank-Inter-national Monetary Fund meetings.

He said the Bank would focus as much on the corrupt in developing countries as on the corrupters from the industrialised world. The Bank is working to create a set of voluntary guidelines for developed countries to help cope with corrupt practices.

Stating that he was not silly enough to think that human nature can be changed overnight, Wolfensohn said he was trying to put the spotlight on corruption in order to catalyse change. He said the institution would talk to individual governments about initiatives to deal with the problem.

 

Asked specifically whether he would bring up the question of corruption with Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto at a meeting later in the day, Wolfensohn said his visit was primarily a courtesy call. The Bank is not in the business of finger-pointing, he said.

Wolfensohn is also reaching out to member countries in an effort to increase commitments for the International Develop-ment Association (IDA), the Bank's soft-loan window.

The case is right for IDA, that no bilateral donor can have the same impact. We have three years before the end of IDA-11 but we should be starting soon (to seek fresh commitments), the world Bank chief said.

IDA-11 itself is troubled by the American assistance that other donors remove the ban on US procurements under a special one-year interim facility. The Americans are not part of the one-year facility, but have threatened to hold up payment of $700 million in arrears unless US companies are allowed to bid for procurement contracts under the special fund. The other IDA donors are cool towards the US demand.

Wolfensohn said the IDA deputies' discussions on Wednesday were positive. Further discussion is slated for next February.

The World Bank president also said he was examining the issue of counter-guarantees from a business angle. The question remains to be addressed