Overview
The goals of the Office of International Affairs are to increase
economic growth and improve economic stability in developing
countries, emerging market countries, and industrial countries.
The staff of International Affairs pursues these goals by
providing timely policy advice, by executing policies, and
by implementing new policy initiatives on a broad range of
economic and financial issues.
Some of the specific duties of the staff of International
Affairs are to:
-
Work with economic officials in Latin America, the Caribbean,
Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East to implement policies
to raise productivity growth, reduce poverty, and prevent
crises.
-
Deploy teams to provide "on-the-ground" economic and
financial technical assistance to transitional, post-conflict,
emerging-market, and developing countries.
-
Lead and/or participate in negotiations to reduce barriers
to international trade and finance—especially in financial
services—by working through the World Trade Organization,
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,
and trade negotiating teams such as those created to negotiate
free trade agreements with Chile and Singapore.
-
Oversee U.S. participation in the International Monetary
Fund and the multilateral development banks, including the
World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the African
Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
-
Coordinate U.S. participation in Finance Ministry and/or
Central Bank fora, such as the G-7, the G-20, the Western
Hemisphere, and the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum,
for the purpose of initiating and implementing policies that
require international coordination.
-
Formulate and execute policies regarding rescheduling,
swapping, or forgiving debt through the Paris Club, the
Heavily Indebted Poor Country Initiative, and the Tropical
Forests Conservation Act.
For Fiscal Year 2003 the President’s budget for the
Treasury International Accounts amounted to $1.47 billion,
including funds for the multilateral development banks, debt
forgiveness, and technical assistance.
|
|
Speeches
& Testimony
|
