Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International
Development
On 10 December 2004, the Bretton Woods Project
wrote to the International Development Committee submitting further
information for your inquiry into the 2004 World Bank/IMF Annual
Meetings. In its memorandum, the Bretton Woods Project listed
a number of commitments which they believed I made when I gave
evidence to the inquiry, focused on increasing transparency and
accountability in the UKs relationship with the World Bank. Most
of these statements are a fair reflection of my position, and
I warmly welcome the Bretton Woods Project's support for the actions
I have taken—including my commitment to seek a Parliamentary
debate of DFIDs forthcoming report on its interaction with the
World Bank.
However, there appears to be a misunderstanding
over one particular point, relating to the publication of UK interventions
at the World Bank Board. The Bretton Woods Project state in their
memorandum that I committed to releasing transcripts of these
interventions. However, as I said when I gave evidence to you
on 9 November, in reply to the 17th question, such a move is currently
prohibited by the World Bank's Articles of Agreement which in
turn have been incorporated into UK domestic law. As a result,
we are legally constrained from releasing these transcripts until
the Bank's rules are changed—an objective which my officials
are now working hard to achieve, as I firmly believe such interventions
should be made public.
More generally, the UK has identified greater
transparency in the workings of the World Bank as one of our key
objectives for 2005. Progress in this area has admittedly been
slow, due primarily to concerns expressed by developing country
Board members. However we are working with Bank staff to address
these concerns, and I am hopeful that further action will be taken
prior to the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in April.
January 2005
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