World Bank chief says report on pressure to alter data 'speaks for itself'

FILE PHOTO: World Bank President David Malpass responds to a question from a reporter during an opening press conference at the IMF and World Bank's 2019 Annual Fall Meetings of finance ministers and bank governors, in Washington, U.S., October 17, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Theiler//File Photo

World Bank President David Malpass said on Monday that a law firm's investigation detailing pressure from senior World Bank officials in 2017 and 2019 to boost certain country rankings in the bank's annual Doing Business report "speaks for itself."

Malpass, speaking to CNBC, said that after discontinuing the report ranking country business climates, "We're making the point that we want to find the best way possible for countries as they work to improve their business climates, so we'll be looking at new approaches to do that."

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Leslie Adler)