Saudi Finance Minister Heads Kingdom's Delegation ‏to IMF-WBG 2024 Spring Meetings ‏

 Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan gestures as he speaks during the Saudi Green Initiative Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 23, 2021. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan gestures as he speaks during the Saudi Green Initiative Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 23, 2021. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
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Saudi Finance Minister Heads Kingdom's Delegation ‏to IMF-WBG 2024 Spring Meetings ‏

 Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan gestures as he speaks during the Saudi Green Initiative Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 23, 2021. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan gestures as he speaks during the Saudi Green Initiative Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 23, 2021. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan will lead the Kingdom's delegation at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group 2024 Spring Meetings in Washington from April 15 to 20.

The Saudi delegation will also include Central Bank Governor Ayman Alsayari, Saudi Fund for Development CEO Sultan Almarshad, Assistant Finance Minister Abdulmuhsen Alkhalaf, International Monetary and Financial Committee Deputy Chair Ryadh Alkhareif, Deputy Finance Minister Khalid Bawazier, and experts from the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Economy and Planning, the Saudi Fund for Development, and the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority.

Al-Jadaan will chair the first meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee since the Kingdom's three-year chairmanship announcement. The committee will discuss global economic developments, growth prospects, and risks, along with global economic policy priorities.

Al-Jadaan and Alsayari will also participate in the 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting under the Brazilian Presidency, focusing on global economic issues and enhancing cooperation.

Additionally, Al-Jadaan will attend a meeting of the World Bank Group's Development Committee, discussing strategies for addressing global development challenges.

The spring meetings bring together finance ministers, central bankers, international organizations, private sector executives, civil society representatives, and academics to discuss global concerns, such as the economy, sustainable development, poverty eradication, and other economic and financial topics. ‏



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."