Bretton Woods institutions must reorient, US Treasury secretary says
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Bretton Woods institutions, including the IMF and World Bank, to refocus on correcting trade imbalances and safeguarding fiat currency values. He emphasized the IMF's role in promoting international monetary cooperation and discouraging harmful policies like competitive exchange rate depreciation. Bessent's remarks coincide with a decline in the US dollar and rising economic competition from China. Investor Ray Dalio suggested a macroeconomic shift could challenge the post-WWII financial order and potentially replace the US dollar with digital currency. Bessent also highlighted stablecoins as a means to bolster demand for the US dollar, while Bitcoin advocates argue for gold-backed stablecoins as superior alternatives. Concerns about the $36 trillion US national debt may drive investors toward Bitcoin as a more reliable store of value amid inflation fears linked to trade tensions.
