The table is set for the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in the U.S. Treasury’s marbled and gilded Cash Room.
But some extra guests are coming.
There are three spaces at the far western end with name cards for Russians: Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin, and central bank chairman Sergei Ignatyev. Russian officials were invited to participate in an “outreach dinner” on Friday night that will focus on bank failures and rescues.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is to be seated at the center of the table draped in white, made up portable sections set in a rectangular arrangement.
Flanking him will be Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on his right and Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David McCormick on his left. Official from the G7 and EU will also be seated around the table.
The Cash Room once served as a banking hall where the public could cash government checks, sell U.S. Treasury bonds and redeem their gold and silver certificates for bullion. Its first public function was the inaugural reception for President Ulysses Grant in 1869.
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