US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has set out a broad challenge to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund during their annual meetings in Bangkok, while remaining in the United States. In written statements issued on Wednesday, October 14, and reported on Thursday, he called for faster progress toward ending sovereign lending to China and Poland.
Bessent argued that economies he described as sufficiently developed should no longer receive the same financing opportunities as poorer countries. He welcomed plans to withdraw lending from both China and Poland, and pressed the World Bank to create a stronger process for removing countries from borrowing eligibility. He said the bank was in the longest period in its history without a country graduating from that eligibility, and that lending should concentrate on poorer economies.
He did not name Thailand, the host of the meetings, as a country that should lose borrowing access. Thailand is dealing with weak growth, debt and rising industrial competition. Deputy Treasury Secretary Francis Brooke and Under Secretary for International Affairs Erin Browne led the US Treasury delegation after Bessent cited domestic commitments.
On energy, Bessent demanded a formal end to climate-related restrictions on World Bank financing of upstream oil and gas projects, meaning exploration and extraction, and greater investment in natural gas infrastructure. He welcomed recent World Bank support for gas-related development in West Africa and backed efforts to extend electricity access to another 300 million people in Africa. He also called for more support for nuclear power and announced an initial US contribution to the World Bank-administered Nuclear Energy Assistance Trust Fund. He did not disclose the size of that contribution.
Bessent identified critical minerals and deep-sea mining as further priorities, welcoming the bank’s Metals and Minerals Implementation Plan while urging more practical investment in extraction, processing and related infrastructure. He asked for a larger World Bank role in technical guidance for deep-sea mining. The source notes that deep-sea mining remains controversial because of possible damage to marine ecosystems and uncertain long-term environmental effects.
China was criticised on several fronts. Bessent demanded an end to World Bank lending to Beijing, tougher IMF scrutiny of trade distortions, and stronger debt transparency. He warned that the IMF risked marginalisation unless it challenged damaging economic policies, and he attacked executive boards whose salaries and budgets cost more than $200 million a year, calling for freezes or cuts.
The United States is the largest shareholder in both institutions. Bessent’s statements reflect President Donald Trump’s emphasis on American economic and national security interests. The World Bank has not formally agreed to abandon its existing restrictions on oil and gas financing, and the demands remain proposals that would require decisions through the bank’s governing arrangements.