World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz has apologised for making a 'mistake' over big pay rises given to his girlfriend at the institution, amid an uproar about alleged favouritism.
'I made a mistake for which I am sorry,' Wolfowitz told a press conference. The former deputy US defence secretary refused to say if he might have to resign as the World Bank's board of governors met to discuss the row.
'I take full responsibility for the details of the agreement,' he added, after explaining that he had followed advice given by the bank's ethics committee on the employment of his Libyan-born partner, Shaha Riza.
She was transferred from the World Bank's communications office to the US State Department in line with bank regulations to avoid a conflict of interest after Wolfowitz's appointment in mid-2005.
While still on the World Bank payroll, she was then rapidly promoted and ended up with a package of almost $200,000 - more even than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Wolfowitz acknowledged that the situation surrounding Riza 'had the potential to harm this institution' and stressed that he had initially wanted no involvement in her employment terms.
The ethics committee's advice had been to 'promote and relocate' Riza out of the World Bank, he said, although that is disputed by some bank staff.
According to a Financial Times report today, Wolfowitz personally ordered the hefty pay rises given to Riza. It cited two people who had seen a memo from Wolfowitz to the head of human resources spelling out the terms of the package.
