De Tray calls for patience, balance in World Bank battle against corruption
"More Lessons from the Trenches: From Indonesia to Vietnam to Central Asia"
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In this speech delivered at World Bank headquarters on Feb. 23, de Tray, who joined CGD as vice president on Feb. 1, and previously was a World Bank country director in Central Asia, addresses three issues. First, the Bank’s role in middle-income countries. Second, the long-term development agenda. And third, a set of issues around performance-based allocations and related issues such as corruption, governance, and the need, for balance in the way the Bank approaches anti-corruption work. In particular, he urges the Bank to maintain a balanced perspective and exercise patience in the fight against corruption in developing countries. "More practical advice and less rhetoric would be a good way to increase effectiveness in the fight against corruption," he said. "No one denies that reducing corruption and improving governance strengthen the odds for sustainable development and poverty reduction.
But the relationship between governance and corruption and development is more complex than often portrayed. It is not black and white, not 1 or 0," he said.De Tray, whose career includes 12 years on the frontlines of development assistance delivery, said that corruption and weak governance often stem from poverty within government: poverty in the traditional sense (the low wages of officials), poverty of opportunity, and poverty of institutional support. He said that the Bank officials working in poor countries must constantly weigh whether their involvement perpetuates a problem or contributes to a solution. The answer is rarely straightforward, he said. "It’s just too easy to sit in Washington and say we should be tough on corruption," he said. "In the real world, there are many shades of grey."
De Tray also said that decentralization--having senior Bank staff resident in the countries they serve--had been crucial to improving the Bank’s effectiveness. To make the most of decentralization, the Bank should rely more on talented local staff and provide adequate incentives for the Bank’s most experienced and able international staff to work in the most challenging countries. He argued that at present, the toughest jobs attract too few qualified applicants.