International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday underscored the importance of keeping central banks independent and threw her support behind beleaguered Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is facing a Trump administration investigation for renovation cost overruns.

Georgieva told Reuters in an interview that there was ample evidence that central bank independence worked in the interest of businesses and households, and that evidence-based, data-based decision-making is good for the economy.

The IMF managing director said she had worked with Powell and respected his professionalism.

“I have worked with Jay Powell. He is a very good professional, very decent man, and I think that his standing among his colleagues tells the story,” she said, when asked about a letter of support signed by her predecessor, Christine Lagarde, now head of the European Central Bank, and other large central banks.

Powell on Sunday disclosed that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into him over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion project to renovate two historical buildings at the Fed’s Washington headquarters complex.

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Powell denies wrongdoing and has called the unprecedented actions a pretext to put pressure on him for not bowing to U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-running demands for sharply lower interest rates.

0:33
‘Too late’: Trump slams U.S. fed chair Powell as either ‘incompetent or crooked’

The probe has sparked widespread criticism from some key members of Trump’s Republican Party in the U.S. Senate, which must confirm his nominee to succeed Powell, along with foreign economic officials, investors and former U.S. government officials from both political parties.

Trump has repeatedly derided Powell’s leadership of the Fed and attacked him, often personally, over what he sees as the Fed chair’s slow moves to cut interest rates. On Wednesday, he dismissed concerns that eroding central bank independence would undermine the value of the U.S. dollar and spark inflation, telling Reuters, “I don’t care.”

Georgieva said the IMF looked carefully at issues such as monetary and financial stability, as well as the strength of a country’s institutions. It was specifically interested in the Fed, given the role of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.

“It would be very good to see that there is a recognition … that the Fed is precious for the Americans. It is very important for the rest of the world,” she said.

Trump has also attempted to fire another Fed official, Governor Lisa Cook, who has challenged her termination in a legal case that will be argued before the Supreme Court next week.

B.C. Premier David Eby spoke to reporters on Thursday morning from Mumbai, India, during his six-day trade mission.

He said that mining and energy companies in India are showing an interest in B.C.

“They are looking strongly to LNG as one of their ways of reducing carbon intensity, as well as reducing smog in the country,” Eby said.

“And so B.C. LNG has been an item of considerable interest, especially the projects that are reaching final investment decision over the next year — LNG Canada Phase 2, KSI Lisims LNG — as well as the projects that are under construction like Woodfibre LNG.”

4:34
B.C. looks to deepen trade ties with India

Eby was also asked about the rise in extortion cases in B.C.

He said the province’s extortion task force will provide an update next week.

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“We have assembled a remarkable and historic task force, RCMP, CBSA,” Eby said.

“There are more police in Surrey right now than there have ever been. The RCMP has surged resources into the community.”

Eby said he has not been happy with the fact that there has been no update from the task force and he has asked them to provide one.

“There have been some important developments, people deported, an arrest here in India, cooperation between the Indian government and the Canadian government on this at the law enforcement level,” he added.

“That needs to continue, but, bluntly, we need better results, we need to see more arrests and whatever we can do to support the police to get the job done, we will do so.”

As of Jan. 12, Surrey police said there have been 16 reported extortion incidents in the city since the beginning of the year.

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B.C.’s premier has downplayed concerns raised in an RCMP report about the Indian government’s suspected ties to a gang blamed for extortion and murder in Canada.

During a trade mission to India, David Eby responded to questions about an RCMP document that said the Bishnoi gang was “acting on behalf of the Indian government.”

Asked about the newly-released report obtained by Global News, Eby said it was a “summary of publicly available news reports from more than a year ago.”

“This was not an RCMP intelligence report,” he said from Mumbai on Wednesday. His office did not respond to follow-up questions from Global News.

But a former intelligence analyst who reviewed the document disagreed with Eby’s characterization, and a Canadian Sikh organization called the premier’s statement “misleading and dangerous.”

“The RCMP and senior Canadian officials have publicly stated that they possess evidence linking the Bishnoi gang to the government of India,” the World Sikh Organization of Canada said.

“This isn’t based on a compilation of newspaper articles; it is a national security assessment. Dismissing it echoes Indian government talking points, trivializes transnational repression, and puts British Columbians at risk.”

Eby has come under fire from Canadian Sikh groups and the Conservative opposition for embarking on an Indian trade mission amid police allegations linking the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to violence in Canada.

Amid an extortion epidemic in B.C., Alberta and Ontario last June, Eby called on the federal government to list the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist organization.

An RCMP report released to Global News on Monday that appeared to be a response to the premier’s plea repeatedly noted the Bishnoi gang’s suspected ties to India’s government.

“The Bishnoi crime group is known to use violence to further their criminal enterprise, while allegedly acting on behalf of the Indian government,” the RCMP national security branch wrote.

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The premier said the “paragraph in question that was cited in the initial news report was a summary of publicly available news articles from the October 2024 period, allegations we were aware of.”

But the quote in question was not sourced to a news report, and the document referred to Eby’s June 2025 call to list the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group, meaning it was written at least eight months after October 2024.

While the three-page report footnotes several news articles, it also sources a Public Safety Canada link that accuses Indian agents of collecting information “used to target members of the South Asian community.”

Former Canadian Security Intelligence Service analyst Phil Gurski said it was common practice for intelligence reports to footnote news sources that are consistent with classified information.

Reports used to place groups on Canada’s terrorist list, for example, “are written by CSIS and based on intel, but use open source that is consistent with the intel as the listing is public,” he said.

The RCMP report was classified as Protected A, and several sections were redacted — suggesting it was more than a summary of news items. A warning at the bottom cautioned that sharing the document was illegal.

“The handling and storage of this document must comply with handling and storage guidelines established by the government of Canada for classified information,” it said.

“Failure to comply with this caveat will constitute a breach of RCMP policy and federal law.”

9:07
How did RCMP’s allegations against India lead to diplomats being expelled?

The report is consistent with earlier government statements about the suspected ties between the government of India and the Bishnoi organized crime group.

National security adviser Nathalie Drouin testified in October 2025 that “senior levels of the Indian government” had directed “the commission of serious criminal activities against Indo-Canadians through the kinetic use of Lawrence Bishnoi’s organized crime network.”

Under Prime Minister Mark Carney, the government has also taken a conciliatory approach to India as it seeks to diversify Canada’s trade partners amid President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Although Ottawa listed the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group in September, for example, the profile on the Public Safety Canada website makes no mention of the gang’s alleged ties to India’s government.

“The Bishnoi gang has been linked to a number of violent crimes and murders in India,” Public Safety Canada told Global News when questioned about the omission.

“Indian authorities have already laid multiple charges against the gang; a number of gang members have also been sentenced to prison, and its leader has been in prison in India since 2014.”

“Addressing transnational crime is a priority for both Canada and India. As the gang has networks in both countries, Canada remains committed to working with our key partners to counter terrorist organizations and their fundraisers.”

2:49
Is there a connection between India and a notorious gang?

India has long complained to Canada about its failure to arrest members of the Khalistan movement, which advocates independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab state.

Canadian authorities believe that Indian agents took matters into their own hands, ordering the murder of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., on June 18, 2023.

The four suspected killers were arrested in May 2024. Global News has reported that Canada obtained intercepted communications linking senior Indian officials to the shooting.

A number of other suspected assassination plots, mostly targeting pro-Khalistan activists, have also been uncovered, according to the RCMP.

On Oct. 14, 2024, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said Indian officials had been linked to an array of violent crimes, prompting Canada to expel six Indian diplomats.

Eby said he was “extremely careful” before travelling to India, and had received briefings from the Canadian military and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

“We need to ensure justice for Mr. Nijjar, for his family, for the community,” he said. “And at the same time, we can’t sit around while our standard of life is eroded and our economy is eroded by the decisions of the president of the United States.

“India is going be the third-largest economy in the world. And Canadians and British Columbians will only benefit from a close relationship with India that includes mutual respect between the two countries for our sovereignty and for our concerns, which are on both sides about issues back and forth between the two countries, and those are being resolved at the federal level.

“So this is very delicate stuff.”

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca