MP accuses ‘infuriating’ IMF of dodging scrutiny as it sits on its ‘perch in Washington’

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was last night accused of evading scrutiny as it sits on its “perch in Washington” to criticize the UK.

A senior MP who chairs the Treasury select committee called it “infuriating”, just weeks after the IMF intervened in UK politics by advising Chancellor Jeremy Hunt not to cut taxes in next month’s Budget and public spending will increase.

The Washington-based fund also intervened after the 2022 mini-budget.

Critics say his dismal record of forecasts for the UK is dismal.

In this context, the Treasury Committee invited the IMF and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to testify before parliamentarians before the budget. They both refused.

But while Conservative MP Harriet Baldwin, who chairs the committee, said she was “encouraged by the positive intent and commitment shown by the OECD during our discussions”, she added: “The IMF’s complete refusal to allow us to examine its forecasts for the UK United Economics in public is infuriating.’

“Yet they continue to make public statements about the UK from their perch in Washington. As the IMF is a public body partly financed by the UK as a shareholder, I find this incredible.’