Economist gives thumbs down, but hints at leniency "That Mr Wolfowitz should have been involved in setting the terms [of Riza's pay], especially when they seem so generous, is astonishing", The Economist writes. It's analysis of the current politics is interesting.

"But a World Bank president, appointed by the White House with the acquiescence of the big European shareholders, is not an easy figure to replace. And the directors may show leniency, if only because they themselves may feel a few pangs of self-reproach."

"As soon as Mr Wolfowitz told them about his relationship with Ms Riza, they should have removed the matter from his hands and settled it by some other means. Instead, they advised him to post her outside the bank and give her a promotion. That advice, it now seems, gave Mr Wolfowitz far more discretion than he knew how to use".

Always hot on figures, the newspaper says: "much more than one man’s reputation is at stake. There’s a real danger that a $60,000 pay hike could jeopardise the bank’s efforts to raise $24.5 billion this year for its aid efforts in 2008-2011". For some strong NGO views on the Bank's fund-raising drive, see also the World Bank campaign Europe website.

One government already coming out publicly to be lenient is Canada's. In the last few minutes a piece appeared on 570 News indicating that "Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says in Washington he's satisfied that World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz followed the right process in arranging a job for his girlfriend. Flaherty says there has been 'selective leaks' of documents that have coloured the situation". Has he not heard about the 100 pages of documents released by the Bank board last night (after initial US objections were overruled). If you like the full picture, see the documents here and here.

Alex Wilks ~ April 13, 2007 ~ T

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