Bessent calls for World Bank reforms, including upstream oil and gas financing

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a long ​list of demands for the World Bank ​in line with Trump administration interests, ‌including ending ​the bank's prohibition on financing upstream oil and gas projects, putting resources into deep-sea critical minerals mining and reforming its procurement policies. Bessent, in a ‌statement issued late on Wednesday to the steering committees of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, also said that the IMF should do more to push back on countries' non-market policies that lead to global ‌imbalances, a veiled reference to US criticism of China.

Here are key highlights of the US statement: