Washington (AFP) – US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s criticism of the International Monetary Fund raised “a number of important issues” to grapple with, the head of the Washington-based institution said Thursday. A day earlier, Bessent used a speech in Washington to criticize the Fund for devoting “disproportionate time and resources to work on climate change, gender, and social issues,” and not enough time on its core function lending to countries struggling with balance of payments problems.
He also criticized the Fund for not calling out China for pursuing “globally distortive policies and opaque currency practices for many decades,” but stopped short of calling for major reforms to the international lender of last resort. Speaking to reporters in Washington on Thursday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said she appreciated Bessent’s “reiteration of the US commitment to the Fund and to its role.”
“He raised a number of important issues and priorities for the institution that I look forward to discussing with the US authorities and the membership as a whole,” she said, adding: “We have a way to go, and we are laser focused on it.” Responding to Bessent’s criticism of the Fund’s focus on climate change, Georgieva said the Fund’s members had different priorities, with some countries more affected by severe weather than others.
“For example, Caribbean countries that are wiped out by extreme weather events regularly, naturally, they’re very concerned about that,” she said. “And they say, how can we be more resilient to these shocks?” “People think that we have climate experts,” she added, alluding to the Fund’s relatively limited role in the fight against climate change. “We don’t. That’s not our job.”
Georgieva also addressed the uncertainty kicked up by US President Donald Trump’s stop-start tariff rollout, which unnerved investors around the world and sent market volatility surging. “The worry I hear more often is actually not even the tariffs, it is uncertainty,” she said, referring to her conversations this week with the Fund’s 191 member countries. “Uncertainty is really bad for business,” she added. “So the sooner this cloud that is hanging over our heads is lifted, the better (the) for prospects for growth.”
© 2024 AFP
