Publication of the Trump administration's long list of expectations from the World Bank

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant has released a long list of demands for the World Bank to align with the Trump administration's interests, including ending the bank's ban on financing upstream oil and gas projects, devoting resources to extracting vital deep-sea minerals and reforming its procurement policies. The post The publication of the long list of expectations of the Trump administration from the World Bank appeared first on Safir Arjan.

According to Ambassador Arjan, Besant, in a statement he issued to the steering committees of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday, also said that the International Monetary Fund should take more measures to deal with countries' non-market policies that lead to global imbalances, which is an implicit reference to the United States' criticism of China.

The US official said the World Bank should adopt a technology-neutral approach to energy and remove restrictions on natural gas and oil projects.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it is making an initial contribution to a new World Bank-managed Nuclear Energy Assistance Fund to help countries lay the groundwork for future nuclear energy investments.

The Ministry of Treasury also announced that the World Bank plays an important role in developing the capacity to extract and process vital minerals. This includes deep-sea mining, where the World Bank can play a catalytic role by providing knowledge and guidance in a nascent sector.

Bessant called for a faster end to access to World Bank lending by wealthier countries such as China and Poland. He said the World Bank's project procurement policies should be reformed so that it does not encourage subsidies or reward deviant industrial policies, adding that it should "pursue procurement reforms that lead to greater competition and quality."

According to a Reuters report, the Treasury Department said the IMF should do more to strengthen its analysis of global imbalances, including the impact of non-market policies and procedures and exchange rates. The IMF was established to prevent these kinds of distortionary policies and negative spillovers, and it must speak up on this critical issue or risk being sidelined.