U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to refocus on their core missions and halt new initiatives that stray from their original purposes.
Speaking at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Thailand, Bessent said the IMF should strengthen surveillance of external sector issues, debt vulnerabilities, and exchange rate policies. The fund should hold borrowers accountable in reform programs and be "an unflinching truth-teller," he said.
Bessent said the IMF has sufficient resources and should not add new priorities without reducing other work. He identified the Resilience and Sustainability Trust as an example of spending that "lacks a clear linkage to balance of payments pressures and veers into development-policy lending."
For the World Bank, Bessent called for graduating more advanced countries from lending support and improving procurement practices. He urged the bank to take a "technology-neutral approach" to energy financing, including supporting natural gas projects, rather than "restricting borrower choice."
The U.S. will hold both institutions accountable for implementing recent policy reforms, Bessent said. He also called for reductions to Executive Board budgets and salaries at both institutions, which cost a combined $200 million annually.
The Treasury announced an initial contribution to the Nuclear Energy Assistance Trust Fund to help countries prepare for future nuclear energy investments.