Scott Bessent says the World Bank and IMF need a total overhaul: ‘Mission creep has knocked these institutions off course’

• Scott Bessent called for sweeping change at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, claiming they needed to reconnect with their missions, faulting their dealings with China. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in remarks to the Institute of International Finance on Wednesday, called for a sweeping overhaul at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and claimed the two institutions need to be reconnected with their missions. 

“The IMF and World Bank have enduring value, but mission creep has knocked these institutions off course,” Bessent said. The two are falling short, he said, and need reform.

The IMF and World Bank did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Bessent said the Trump administration wants to work with the institutions so long as they are true to their missions, which they presently are not, he claimed. He called their agendas sprawling and unfocused and have kept them from delivering on their core mandates: for the IMF, to promote global macroeconomic and financial stability, and for the World Bank, to promote long-term economic development and poverty reduction. The Trump administration will use American leadership and influence at these institutions and push for change. 

“The IMF has suffered from mission creep,” Bessent said. “The IMF was once unwavering in its mission of promoting global monetary cooperation and financial stability. Now it devotes disproportionate time and resources to work on climate change, gender, and social issues.”

The International Monetary Fund, he said, should be a brutal truth-teller. Instead, he claimed, it was “whistling past the graveyard.” The IMF a day earlier warned the global economy was headed for a slowdown because of uncertainty and trade tension, and the U.S. would suffer when it comes to economic growth. Bessent said he was open to critique, so long as others hear it too. 

“The IMF needs to call out countries like China that have pursued globally distorted policies and opaque currency practices for many decades,” he said. 

While the president put some of his tariffs on ice after a sell-off in the stock and bond markets, he tacked on more for China. China retaliated, threatening an escalating trade war. There may be less of a threat at the moment since Bessent floated a “de-escalation.” Trump also hinted at reduced tariffs on Chinese goods, and reports say the White House might slash its tariffs on China soon. 

Still, that hasn’t kept Bessent from declaring China needs to change, or calling on global financial institutions to keep it above board. “Treating China…as a developing country is absurd,” Bessent said, alluding to the World Bank. The bank, he said, has strayed from its mission.

“The bank should no longer expect blank checks for vapid, buzzword-centric marketing accompanied by half hearted commitments to reform,” Bessent said. 

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