U.S. Scrutiny of Lender’s Funding Of Possible Harmful Projects Is Lax

World Bank global project funding, estimated at $40 billion a year, may subsidize projects with significant ad­verse environmental and social risks due to rushed or inadequate U.S. government oversight, says a report by the U.S. Gov­ernment Accountability Office. GAO says in 2007 the U.S. Treasury Dept., the lead monitor, and other agencies were only able to review 14 of 95 World Bank funding proposals, and some possibly harmful proj­ects proceeded without U.S. government support. GAO also claims economic and political “considerations” may lead the U.S. to support project funding despite possible environmental impacts. The Treasury Dept. disputes some GAO findings but agreed to improve reviews.