US Treasury chief Bessent to skip IMF annual meetings in Bangkok

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not participate in the IMF and World Bank’s annual meetings in Bangkok later this week, a department official announced, amid increasing domestic pressure over the conflict with Iran and persistently high bond yields. The US Treasury Department stated that Bessent was scheduled to preside over a G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting on Thursday, with the US currently holding the rotating presidency of the group.

However, Deputy Treasury Secretary Francis Brooke and Under Secretary for International Affairs Erin Browne have been selected to head the US delegation in his place. A US official explained that Bessent is engaged with domestic matters, without elaborating further. The annual meetings, which occur outside the IMF's Washington headquarters every three years, precede the crucial US midterm elections scheduled for November.

President Donald Trump's Republican Party is striving to maintain control of Congress amid growing voter concerns about affordability. The ongoing war in Iran, sparked by US-Israel strikes in late February targeting Iran, has led to a surge in energy costs. This has exacerbated domestic economic strain. Bessent also missed a G20 meeting held in Cape Town last year.

His predecessors, Janet Yellen and Steven Mnuchin, had attended IMF annual meetings in Marrakech and Bali, respectively. US officials plan to collaborate with partners in Bangkok to tackle "policies and structural imbalances that have impeded growth and contributed to persistent global imbalances," according to the Treasury Department. They also aim to foster "greater transparency and more effective approaches to sovereign debt."