Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued in a speech that the multilateral economic institutions have veered away from their missions.

Bessent sharply criticized the IMF and World Bank, saying that “mission creep has knocked these institutions off course.” He criticized the IMF for devoting too much time to “work on climate change, gender, and social issues” while failing to hold countries to which it lends money accountable for implementing economic reforms.

Bessent spoke to the Institute of International Finance as both the International Monetary Fund and World Bank held their spring meetings in Washington. On Monday, the IMF downgraded its forecast of U.S. economic growth to 1.8% this year, a reduction from the 2.7% it estimated as recently as January.