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ECONOMICS REPORT - The World Bank Fights the Cancer of CorruptionBy Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, April 07, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The main goal of the World Bank is to fight poverty. But, for almost ten years, the World Bank also has investigated financial crimes by government and bank officials.


World Bank headquarters in Washington DC

In nineteen ninety-six, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn warned of the need to deal with the cancer of corruption2.

The World Bank defines corruption as offering, giving, receiving, or asking for anything of value to influence the action of a public official. For example, a local official may demand that a foreign company pay him money, or a bribe3, to permit a project to go forward.

The World Bank says corruption is the biggest barrier to development. Corruption hurts the poor people who are supposed to gain from development bank loans and aid.

The World Bank created a group of anti-corruption investigators4 in nineteen ninety-nine. It later became the Department of Institutional Integrity. The Bank says the D.I.I. has investigated almost two thousand accusations5 of corruption.

The Bank has twenty-two investigators. It spends about ten million dollars each year on anti-corruption measures. It says this is more than all other development banks combined.

The current World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz, was appointed last year. Mister Wolfowitz says he will increase the number of investigators and the budget for fighting corruption. He also has suspended loans to India, Kenya, Bangladesh and other nations over concerns about corruption.

Reports say some members of the World Bank governing board do not agree with Mister Wolfowitz's actions. They say it is not fair to deny a loan for purposes such as health care because some of the money goes to corrupt1 uses.

Critics of the Bank's lending say it is not carefully supervising the loans and projects it finances. The Bank approves about two hundred forty new projects each year. And it has more than one thousand existing loans, each of which may contain many agreements.

The World Bank is part of the World Bank Group. It includes the International Bank for Reconstruction6 and Development, which has one hundred eighty-four member nations.

In two thousand four, the World Bank Group provided or guaranteed more than twenty-five thousand million dollars in loans.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. Our reports are online at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 corrupt 4zTxn     
v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的
参考例句：
  • The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
  • This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。
2 corruption TzCxn     
n.腐败，堕落，贪污
参考例句：
  • The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
  • The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。
3 bribe GW8zK     
n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通
参考例句：
  • He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
  • He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。
4 investigators e970f9140785518a87fc81641b7c89f7     
n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
  • The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 accusations 3e7158a2ffc2cb3d02e77822c38c959b     
n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名
参考例句：
  • There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
  • He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。
6 reconstruction 3U6xb     
n.重建，再现，复原
参考例句：
  • The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
  • In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

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