WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 16: International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks at a news conference as the The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group hold their 2025 Annual Meeting at the IMF Headquarters One on October 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. Georgieva took economic questions from reporters from organizations around the world. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
**Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Calls on IMF and World Bank to Scale Back Financial Support for China**
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to reduce their financial assistance to China. In a statement delivered to the IMF’s steering committee, Mr. Bessent emphasized the need for these international organizations to refocus on their core missions. He argued that China should graduate from its development assistance programs.
The IMF and World Bank, who are meeting this week in Washington, D.C., should allocate their staff and administrative resources to countries with more pressing development needs, Mr. Bessent said.
> “The Bank must place a stronger priority on implementing its graduation policy, supporting countries along the way to self-reliance and enabling the Bank to concentrate its resources on poorer, less creditworthy countries where its support is most needed and most impactful,” he stated.
Several conservative economists have echoed this viewpoint, contending that China—with the world’s second-largest economy and substantial influence over global markets—should lose its status as a developing country in the eyes of the World Bank and IMF.
However, opponents of this change highlight China’s per-capita income, which the IMF estimated to be $13,136 last year. This figure remains significantly below the United States’ per-capita income of $85,373 and even lower than Mexico’s.
The Trump administration sees China as a major economic competitor and is currently engaged in a trade war with Beijing. Most recently, President Trump announced plans to impose an additional 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods starting November 1, in response to Beijing’s threat to restrict exports of rare metals.
Addressing the broader economic landscape, the World Bank Group has modestly revised its global economic outlook upward but cautioned that the world is still adjusting to a trade environment reshaped by America’s tariff policies. It described the overall environment as “volatile.”
Mr. Bessent highlighted the Trump administration’s economic agenda, citing tax cuts, energy policy, and regulatory modernization as interconnected components designed to drive economic growth and bolster domestic manufacturing.
> “The IMF is uniquely positioned to provide bilateral and multilateral economic surveillance that identifies imbalances and risks, facilitates the balanced growth of international trade, and discourages harmful policies,” Mr. Bessent noted.
He further stressed that the World Bank needs to prioritize building supply chains for critical minerals essential to economic growth.
Mr. Bessent urged the World Bank to concentrate its investments on increasing access to affordable and reliable energy, reducing poverty, and stimulating growth.
> “We have been encouraging others to follow our lead and to take steps to increase economic growth,” he said. “However, the growth outlook remains weak and unbalanced. Many countries continue to face ongoing regional conflicts, governance challenges, and other barriers to economic prosperity such as overregulation.”
The Treasury Secretary also called for the Bank to shift focus away from climate and gender issues and concentrate more on overall economic growth, noting that the IMF is already consolidating its climate and gender units into a single entity focused on macro-financial and structural policies.
> “The IMF and World Bank must take more concerted steps to focus on their respective core missions and deliver greater impact to the countries they support and greater value to taxpayers from the United States and other shareholders,” Mr. Bessent concluded.
https://www.nysun.com/article/bessent-urges-imf-and-world-bank-to-scale-back-aid-to-china
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