World Bank president says he opposes giving more authority to Federal Reserve

Zoellick advocates greater role for US Treasury

WASHINGTON — The president of the World Bank says he opposes giving more authority to the U.S. Federal Reserve, arguing instead that the Treasury Department is better suited to manage financial crises.

Robert Zoellick (ZOH’-likh) also suggested in a speech Monday that the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency may be diminishing and the United States should recognize this fact. He said it would be difficult to give what he called independent and powerful technocrats at the Federal Reserve more authority. Zoellick also said the Treasury would be better at pulling together different regulatory agencies to deal with a crisis.

The World Bank released excerpts of his speech to a Washington university audience in advance of the bank’s annual meeting next week in Istanbul.