The Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Besent, on Wednesday requested radical reforms in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, urging institutions to abandon what he described as “mission fluidity” and return to their focused on the macroconomic.
Speaking at the International Finance Institute the FMI spring meetings and the World Bank, Besent said that “the United States does not mean America alone.” He argued that the Trump administration does not seek to abandon international institutions or the global financial system built with American leadership, but is making a renewed commitment to US leadership within it.
“Far from backward”, America First “seeks to expand the leadership of the United States in international institutions such as IM and the World Bank,” said Besent.
The Speech Marked Bessert’s Most Comprehensive Statement to Date On The Trump Administration’s Global Economic Strategy, Calling for A “Rebalancing” of the International Financial System that includes trade reallignment, a resessment of imf and world Bank priorities, a Stronger for the Govergor for the Govergor for the Govergor Govergor for for the Govergor for the Govergor for the Government for the Gvers For the for the for the Gvers For the Government for the Government for the for the Government.
‘Make the IMF the IMF again’
Besent asked the global leaders to “make the IMF the IMF again”, pointing out the highest IMF approach in climate change, gender equity and social policy as distractions of their original purpose.
“The IMF was once unwavering in its promotion mission global monetary cooperation and financial stability,” he said. “Now he spends time and disproportionate resources to work on climate change, gender and social problems. These problems are not the IMF mission.”
He criticized the most recent external sector report of the fund to minimize market imbalances and requested greater scrutiny of surplus economies, including China. Besent argued that the IMF must be more willing to deny loans to countries that refuse to implement the necessary reforms.
World Bank: Without blank checks
The Secretary of the Treasury also pressed the changes in the World Bank, including more strict graduation criteria to ensure that middle -income countries, frayedly China, no longer receive development loans.
“Treating China, the second largest economy in the world axis, a” country in development “is absurd,” said Besent.
He applauded the Bank’s recently disposition to reconsider his restrictions on nuclear energy loans and requested a “neutral technology” approach for energy development. In most cases, he argued, this would mean a renewed investment in infrastructure based on fossil gases and gases to support growth in developing countries.
China and Global Commerce
Besent reiterated the opinion of the administration that the global commercial system has been structurally unbalanced, with the United States with the burden of excess demand. He said that recent tariff measures of the Trump administration were already attracting positive responses from more than 100 countries anxious to rebalance business relations.
China, he said, remains an important group, cites its dependence on export -driven growth and a continuous change in national consumption.
“China needs to change. The country knows that they must change. Everyone knows what to change,” he said.
Besent linked global economic stability with global security, arguing that the United States open markets and defense commitments must be reciprocated by the strongest security and economic cooperation of the allies.