Sawt Falasteen - IMF proposes US Treasury official as second-in-command

The selection of Dan Katz, which needs to be approved by the Fund's executive board, would place a close confidant of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent among the top ranks of an organization that has faced criticism from President Donald Trump's administration.

If Katz is approved, his work as first deputy managing director is expected to start October 6.

AFP reported on Katz's expected selection earlier this week. He told AFP in a statement that he remains focused on his current Treasury role for now.

If approved, he will replace Gita Gopinath, who left the IMF in August to return to Harvard University.

Katz, who is chief of staff at the Treasury Department, was a senior official in the department during Trump's first term as well.

A source familiar with the matter earlier told AFP that Katz has longstanding ties with Bessent and previously consulted for the Treasury chief's hedge fund.

In announcing his proposed appointment, the IMF said Katz has been "the principal advisor to the (Treasury) Secretary on a wide range of domestic and international matters."

"Mr. Katz was instrumental in developing the US government's innovative economic partnership with Ukraine and has been central to the US government's international negotiations, including with China," the IMF added.

Katz has previously worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and is a graduate of Yale University.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement that Katz believes in "the important role of the Fund in helping our member countries ensure economic and financial stability at a time of significant transformations in the global economy."

"His ability to build relationships with a wide range of interlocutors will be an important asset to the Fund," she added.

In April, Bessent said on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank's spring meetings in Washington that both organizations need to be "made fit for purpose again," suggesting they have strayed from their mandates.

The previous number-two official at the IMF, Gopinath, joined the Fund in 2019, becoming its first female chief economist.

She was promoted to first deputy managing director in 2022.

G.AbuOdeh--SF-PST