New York - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The International Monetary Fund has warned of the repercussions that the global economy will face if leaders in the United States are unable to resolve its political deadlock over negotiations to raise the US debt ceiling. According to the United Nations in its daily bulletin, a copy of which we received Friday morning.
She added that during a press conference in Washington Thursday, IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozak called on all concerned parties to work together and reach a "consensus to resolve this matter expeditiously."
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had warned that failure to find a way to pass legislation raising the debt ceiling could lead to the US defaulting on its debt for the first time in history as early as June.
In this context, the International Monetary Fund warned that this default may lead to higher interest rates on sovereign debt, and increase pressure on countries already suffering from increased borrowing costs.
However, the fund did not disclose specific details of the potential repercussions on the US economy or the global economy.
"The situation in the US is of course characterized by some uncertainty," Ms. Kozak said at her press conference. "At the same time, we've seen resilience in the US labor market and in some basic economic statistics. So in terms of the US, I think the bottom line right now is Our forecast for the month of April is still valid."

Fragmentation warning
Ahead of the meeting of finance ministers and the G7 leadership summit in Japan, the International Monetary Fund urged countries to resist mounting pressure to pursue protectionism and friendly manufacturing, a policy of manufacturing and sourcing from geopolitical allies.
Ms. Kozak said the cost of fragmenting the economy could be 0.2 per cent of global GDP. She warned that "if we move to a more fragmented or unruly world, the costs could be as high as seven percent of global GDP, and if we add technological decoupling, the cost could be as high as 12 percent of GDP for some countries."
The spokeswoman said the IMF encourages countries that want to strengthen their supply chains to do so on the basis of economic rationale to ensure that the "global economy remains strong and resilient".
It is noteworthy that the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, will be in Niigata and Hiroshima, Japan to participate in the meetings of the Group of Seven.