The U.S. Treasury’s top economic diplomat on Friday called on the International Monetary Fund and multilateral development banks to work on new ways to provide short-term liquidity support to low- and middle-income countries to head off debt crises. Jay Shambaugh, the Treasury’s undersecretary for international finance, told an Atlantic Council event that the Treasury was working with these institutions “to find a better path” for countries with high but sustainable debts that face liquidity pressures. Shambaugh, who oversees the dominant U.S. shareholdings in the IMF and World Bank, said he hoped that the institutions could make progress at their annual meetings later this month in developing new mechanisms and program design changes that meet the needs of a vast number of countries dealing with temporary shocks.
US Treasury calls for new IMF, World Bank steps on liquidity pressures
