Treasury official says withdrawing the US from the IMF and World Bank would be a 'step backward'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Withdrawing the United States from the IMF and World Bank would be “a step backward,” a top U.S. Treasury official said Friday, defending the organizations before a presidential election that could cast uncertainty about America's future in them.

In advance of the institutions' annual meetings this month, Jay Shambaugh, the undersecretary for international affairs, alluded to a Project 2025 proposal for the U.S. to pull out of the IMF and World Bank if Donald Trump wins.

The proposal is part of a plan created by the Heritage Foundation as a possible handbook for the next Republican administration, though Trump has said it is not related to his campaign and he is not bound to its ideas.

“There are those who have suggested the U.S. withdraw from these institutions; this would be a step backward for our economic security,” Shambaugh said in a speech at the Atlantic Council. Without U.S. leadership, "we would have less influence and we would weaken these institutions. We cannot afford that.”