The House of Representatives passed Wednesday the World Bank Accountability Act, which makes a share of future appropriations contingent on reforms to the International Development Association (IDA).
“The reforms in this bill have emerged from five oversight hearings held in our Committee over the past two years, and passed our Committee by a unanimous vote of 60-0,” Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said. “People should be aghast at how this money has been spent at the World Bank. If we want reforms, we’ve got to have some accountability.”
IDA is a concessional lending window at the World Bank for the world’s poorest countries plagued by numerous issues, including institutional incentives that prioritize loan volume over delivering actual results; continued lending to corrupt regimes that abuse their citizens and trample on economic freedom for the poor; and insufficient attention paid to auditing initiatives for corruption.
“Giving the World Bank a blank check from U.S. taxpayers has enabled the poverty-fighting organization to lose its way,” Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), chairman of the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee, said. “The World Bank Accountability Act makes our future contributions to the Bank conditional on reforms that will help better fight poverty, uphold human rights and democracy, prevent the flow of funds to corrupt governments and those who support terrorism, and improve oversight and accountability.”