Scott Bessent's Chief Of Staff Dan Katz To Become IMF's 1St Deputy Managing Director, To Report To Kristalina Georgieva

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's Chief of Staff, Dan Katz, is leaving the Trump administration to take a high-ranking position at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to a report by the New York Post citing people aware of the development.

David Kats, a former senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, is set to become the first deputy managing director at the IMF , making him the most senior American in the organisation.

He will report to Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva , an economist and former EU commissioner.

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“He is one of the secretary's closest confidantes,” a person familiar with the development told the New York Post, further adding that“It is a big win for President Trump's America First economic agenda on the international stage."

Georgieva is expected to rubber-stamp the nomination because an American has traditionally held the number two role at the Fund, the report noted.

Also Read | Gita Gopinath quits IMF, to leave in end-August - Why is she stepping down?

There is a vacancy for the role of first deputy managing director, following Gita Gopinath 's decision to resign from her post at the end of last month, who was nominated by the Biden administration. She plans to return to Harvard.

“The Fund is expected to make the formal announcement this Friday that Dan is their pick for (this role,” the report quoted a person aware of the development.

“A two-week comment period follows this announcement, after which Dan would be formally appointed by Kristalina Georgieva,” it further added.

Also Read | The IMF's 'World Economic Outlook' is too coy for a Trump-shaken world Who is Dan Katz?

Katz is a Yale graduate and a former Goldman Sachs employee, who also held a senior role in the first Trump administration. He played a crucial part in negotiating the US's economic partnership agreement with Ukraine and is viewed as Bessent's key liaison on China.

His wedding was officiated by Lord Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, in September 2019.

Katz's current boss, Scott Bessent, recently criticised the IMF for“mission creep” and accused it of promoting woke causes in a speech in central DC.

He claimed that the global lender“devotes disproportionate time and resources to work on climate change, gender, and social issues.”

“Focus on these areas is crowding out its work on critical macroeconomic issues,” he said in the speech at the Institute of International Finance Forum.“The IMF has been whistling past the graveyard," he added.

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