IMF calls for 'urgent action' on US budget

The International Monetary Fund reiterated its calls for the US Congress to resolve the ongoing budget crisis and address a looming debt ceiling crisis. "The United States needs to take urgent action to address short-term fiscal uncertainties," the crisis lender's managing committee said in a final statement after this week's IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Washington, Voice of Russia reported. The communique said that the US economic recovery "has gained ground." The IMF this week forecast that US growth would pick up in 2014, barring a voluntary bond default if the debt ceiling is not raised, which could be devastating to the global financial system.