Fabricated Statement Shared As World Bank Vice President Criticizing Qatar’s Alleged Role in Tunisian Economy
The Claim
The World Bank’s Vice President: Qatar did not help support the Tunisian economy. Instead, it’s working day and night to weaken and damage the economy.
News posted on
Emerging story
Facebook and Twitter accounts have recently shared an alleged statement attributed to the World Bank’s vice president. In the statement, the WB’s vice president purportedly said that Qatar did not even try to help the Tunisian economy but rather sought tirelessly to drown Tunisia in [debts] and weaken the country’s economy. The claim also shows the photo of some official.
Description: The screenshot shows the recently circulated claim.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s team investigated the claim and found it fake. The World Bank’s vice president did not say that Qatar did not even try to help the Tunisian economy but rather sought tirelessly to drown Tunisia in [debts] and weaken the country’s economy.
The photo shared with the claim shows Justin Yifu Lin, one of the former World Bank’s chief economists who also worked as a vice president between 2008 and 2012. No media outlet reported the alleged statement.
Misbar found that the claim has been circulating since as early as 2013 in Tunisia, while no evidence or reliable source was quoted or cited to support it.
A portion of a recent press release by the World Bank read that: “Decisive structural reforms and an improved business climate are essential to put Tunisia’s economy on a more sustainable path, create jobs for the growing youth population and better manage the country’s debt burden.”
Translated by Ahmed N. A. Almassri
