TSC accuses IMF of avoiding public scrutiny over Mini Budget inquiry

Harriett Baldwin calls for change in policy

The Treasury Select Committee has accused the International Monetary Fund of trying to avoid public scrutiny over the institution's criticism of the government’s Mini Budget after rejecting a request to appear in front of MPs.

The House of Commons committee has been pressing the IMF to give an on-the-record testimony after its intervention last year, when the organisation said it was "important that fiscal policy does not work at cross purposes to monetary policy" and asked the then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to reconsider his plans. Harriett Baldwin, Conservative chair of the TSC and ex-Treasury minister, wrote in The Times today (11 January) that the IMF should change its guidance to allow its most senior officials to testify publicly before parliamentary committees of member nations. Harriett Baldwin elec...