Paulson says U.S. Treasury monitoring wealth funds

WASHINGTON Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday that his agency was closely monitoring government-owned wealth funds to ensure that they were motivated by financial rather than political goals.

"What we're focused on is to make sure that what they're driven by is commercial, economic purposes," Paulson told the Senate Banking Committee.

"In this country, we welcome foreign investment. That is the highest vote of confidence anyone can pay," added Paulson, noting that Treasury has asked the International Monetary Fund to help devise a list of best practices to guide wealth funds. (Reporting by Emily Kaiser; Editing by James Dalgleish)