The World Bank on Thursday said it was pausing publication of its annual Doing Business Report, which carries the Ease of Doing Business rankings, to investigate data collection irregularities, Hindustan Times reported.

“A number of irregularities have been reported regarding changes to the data in the Doing Business 2018 and Doing Business 2020 reports, published in October 2017 and 2019,” the financial institution said in a statement, according to The Business Line. “The changes in the data were inconsistent with the Doing Business methodology.”

Advertisement

The World Bank said that it would conduct a systematic review and assessment of data changes in the last five Doing Business reports, adding that independent auditors will investigate data collection and review processes. The statement also said that the board of executive directors of the World Bank and authorities of the countries that were affected by the data irregularities have been informed about the situation.

“The publication of the Doing Business report will be paused as we conduct our assessment,” the bank said.

The annual ranking of countries’ business and investment climates has been important for the Narendra Modi government, which has taken credit for the improved rankings. Before Modi rose to power in 2014, India was ranked 142nd. In October 2018, India jumped 23 steps to reach the 77th rank. In May 2019, the country was at the 63rd spot.

Advertisement

The Doing Business report also came under fire in 2018 when the World Bank’s then-chief economist, Paul Romer, had resigned from his post after saying he had “conveyed wrong information” about Chile’s business environment by changing the methodology.

The rankings are decided on 10 indicators of a country’s performance, which are starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting credit, getting electricity, paying taxes, registering property, enforcing contracts, protecting minority investors, trading across borders and resolving insolvency.