Terming the World Bank’s integrity department a worthless wing, Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday vowed to continue his efforts to abolish it.
Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) of the WB “must be abolished”, he told a discussion on the state of the economy at the National Economic Council auditorium yesterday.
“Such a worthless wing has no right to exist,” Muhith added.
Zahid Hussain, the bank’s lead economist at its Dhaka office, was present at the discussion when Muhith made the comments.
The WB cancelled its financing of the Padma bridge project based on INT’s report on allegations of corruption involving the project.
The global lender’s integrity department fights fraud and corruption affecting WB projects and investigates graft allegations.
The minister said the INT should have informed the government about the corruption and waited for it to act. It should have proceeded if the government did not take any action.
The “jihadi spirit” of the INT is very destructive, Muhith noted, adding that it foils its aims and destroys the recipient country.
Due to the jihadi spirit, an accused dodges the legal system, and this is what has happened in the case of Bangladesh, said Muhith.
“For this reason, punishing the INT is very necessary.”
Muhith said he would make these criticisms about the INT in his statement during the WB-IMF annual meeting to be held in Washington next month.
-With The Daily Star input
