Bailey Joins Walkout at IMF Meeting in Protest at Russia
Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, joined finance leaders who walked out of an International Monetary Fund meeting in Bangkok when Anton Siluanov, the Russian finance minister, addressed the group in Russian. The Bank confirmed his participation. Counterparts from France, Germany and several Scandinavian and Baltic countries also left. “This is a very strong signal about solidarity and values,” said Joachim Nagel, the Bundesbank president, who put the walkout at nearly half of all delegates.
Germany had warned against efforts to bring Russia back on to the international stage, while Erin Browne, the US Treasury undersecretary, said Washington supported Russia’s presence despite European concerns. Siluanov attended a G20 finance meeting earlier this year. Mohammed al-Jadaan, the Saudi finance minister who chaired the steering committee, warned that “buffers have been eroded, and resilience cannot be taken for granted”. John Healey used the same Bangkok meetings to argue that Britain is resilient, citing IMF forecasts that the UK will have the lowest deficit in the G7 by 2029. Britain hosts the G20 next year, with finance ministers meeting in Edinburgh on 8 and 9 July 2027.