US Treasury official expected to be named IMF’s number two: Source

WASHINGTON: The US Treasury Department’s chief of staff is anticipated to take up the number-two post at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a source told AFP on Wednesday (Sep 17).

Dan Katz, who works closely with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is expected to be selected as the IMF’s next first deputy managing director, the source said. No formal announcement has been made. A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment, and the Fund did not immediately respond to queries.

IMF TRADITION

The United States, the IMF’s biggest shareholder, typically nominates the Fund’s top deputy, while the European Union traditionally nominates the IMF chief. Katz, who previously served as a senior Treasury official in Donald Trump’s first administration, has longstanding ties with Bessent and earlier consulted for his hedge fund.

Katz has also worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker and is a Yale University graduate. In the current Trump administration, he has helped steer Washington’s international economic strategy, including on Ukraine, and was involved in trade and economic talks with Beijing.

SUCCESSOR TO GOPINATH

Katz would succeed Gita Gopinath, who left the role in August to return to Harvard University. Gopinath, the IMF’s first female chief economist when appointed in 2019, was promoted to the deputy managing director role in 2022.

In that position, she represented the IMF at multilateral gatherings including the Group of Seven and Group of 20, and played a leading role in the Fund’s work on monetary and fiscal policies, debt and international trade.