World Bank pauses Ease of Doing Biz ranking report
DATA DOUBTS Bank to conduct review of reported irregularities in 2018 and 2020 reports
NEW DELHI: The World Bank has “paused” the publication of Doing Business report, which carries the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) rankings. The effective suspension of the publication of the rankings has been announced in the wake of a number of reported irregularities regarding changes to data in the 2018 and 2020 reports published in October 2017 and October 2019.
In a statement on Thursday, the Bank said it was conducting a “systematic review and assessment of data c hanges t hat occurred subsequent to the institutional data review process for the last five Doing Business reports”. “We have asked the World Bank Group’s independent Internal Audit function to perform an audit of the processes for data collection and review for Doing Business and the controls to safeguard data integrity.”
The culmination of this process will be followed by a retrospective correction in the rankings, the statement said. “The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has been briefed on the situation as have the authorities of the countries that were most affected by the data irregularities.”
The Union ministries of finance and commerce did not respond to email queries on the effective suspension of the rankings. But officials from the two ministries, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Bank may have briefly paused the publication but not ended it, and a review would make it more robust and credible. They added this would neither halt nor deter India’s commitment towards Ease of Doing Business. In fact, India has gone a step further in striving to achieve Ease of Living, the officials said.
“F o r e x a mpl e , j u s t s e e reforms in tax administration. The Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] recently unveiled faceless as s e s s ment s yst e m i n t he income-tax matters to curb corruption and released, for the first time, a taxpayers’ charter. Next month, faceless appeal system will be introduced. All these are part of ongoing reform aimed at Ease of Living for the common man, which will also benefit businesses,” said one of the officials on condition of anonymity.
A second official said wideranging reforms have been introduced for the Ease of Business keeping both agriculture and industry in mind. “Farmers have been unshackled now so that they can sell their produce to lucrative markets. The commerce and industry ministry is considering introducing a technology-based single-window system soon that would ensure expeditious multiple regulatory approvals at both the Central and state levels from one point. Reforms are ongoing and not dependent on the ranking of the Ease of Doing Business.”
The policy regime in India places a lot of importance on the rankings. After assuming power in 2014, the Narendra Modi government set a target for India to be among top 50 countries in the rankings. In 2014, India was ranked 142nd. It jumped to the 63rd position among 190 countries in May 2019.
The rankings are based on a country’s performance on 10 indicators.
These include: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
TOKYO: Softbank Group Corp said on Friday it planned to slash its exposure to wireless carrier SoftBank Corp in a share sale worth 1.47 trillion yen ($13.8 billion) at Friday’s close, marking an expansion of the conglomerate’s asset sales.
The sale will see Softbank’s stake fall to 40.4% from 62.1%. The offer price for the 1.03 billion shares, including an over-allotment, will be set September 14-16.
Softbank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son has been selling down the group’s core assets to stabilise its balance sheet and fund a record share buyback amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The announcement marks the expansion of stake sales beyond the 4.5 trillion yen asset sale plan announced in March. One-off gains from the sales boosted the group’s earnings in the AprilJune quarter.
“In light of the ongoing uncertainty in the market environment due to concerns about a potential second or even third wave of Covid-19, (Softbank Group) believes it is necessary to expand cash reserves,” the group said in a statement. Japan’s third-biggest wireless carrier will remain a group subsidiary, Softbank said, fitting a pattern of the conglomerate exerting influence over listed investments without holding majority stakes.
Softbank said it will hold the remaining shares “for t he medium to long term”. Son built up the wireless carrier but in recent years has refocused on tech investing.
Separately on Friday, SoftBank Corp said it will spend up to 100 billion yen buying back its shares.