The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has nominated Dan Katz, chief of staff at the US Treasury Department, as its new number two official, the Washington-based lender announced on Thursday.
The Fund’s executive board must approve the appointment, which would place a close ally of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in one of the IMF’s top positions.
If confirmed, Katz will assume his role as first deputy managing director on 6 October, replacing Gita Gopinath, who left in August to return to Harvard University.
Katz, a Yale graduate and former Goldman Sachs banker, previously served as a senior Treasury official during Donald Trump’s first term. He has longstanding ties with Bessent and once consulted for the Treasury chief’s hedge fund.
The IMF noted that Katz has acted as principal adviser to the Treasury Secretary on both domestic and international issues. It credited him with shaping the US government’s economic partnership with Ukraine and playing a central role in negotiations with China.
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva praised Katz for recognising the Fund’s vital role in safeguarding global economic stability. “His ability to build relationships with a wide range of interlocutors will be an important asset to the Fund,” she said.
Earlier this year, Bessent criticised the IMF and World Bank as straying from their mandates, insisting the institutions must be “made fit for purpose again.”
Gopinath, who joined the Fund in 2019 as its first female chief economist, was promoted to deputy managing director in 2022 before stepping down in August.