Christine Lagarde says America's spending freeze - now in its third day - has the potential to cause "serious damage" to markets around the world.
She's appealed for Democrats and Republicans to settle the budget issue which has led to a US Government 'shutdown' and immediately get to work on raising America's debt ceiling before the October 17th deadline.
Christine Lagarde says the global economic recovery depends on a swift resolution. The head of the IMF says it's "critical" for the global economy that US lawmakers resolve the government shutdown.