The head of the International Monetary Fund downplayed its work related to climate change after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for the lender to return to its core focus as economic stabilizer.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's criticism of the International Monetary Fund raised "a number of important issues" to grapple with, the head of the Washington-based institution said Thursday."He raised a number of important issues and priorities for the institution that I look forward to discussing with the US authorities and the membership as a whole,

IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva stated on Thursday that the Fund will implement Washington's suggestions regarding its policy. The day before, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had criticised the IMF and the World Bank,

The head of the International Monetary Fund stood by the group’s contrarian view that the U.S. and the global economy aren’t on track for a recession, but stressed the toll of uncertainty and the need for swift resolution of trade disputes.

The multilateral lender thinks the U.S. will be hurt more than either Europe or China by President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz.

Bessent spoke to the Institute of International Finance as both the International Monetary Fund and World Bank held their spring meetings in Washington. On Monday, the IMF downgraded its forecast of U.S. economic growth to 1.8% this year, a reduction from the 2.7% it estimated as recently as January.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has played a balancing act trying to reassure nervous investors that the U.S. would maintain its global leadership role while staying true to the Trump administration’s skepticism of multilateral banking organizations.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday called on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to refocus on their core missions of macroeconomic stability and development, arguing that they have strayed too far into vanity projects such as climate change that have reduced their effectiveness.