Finance leaders cannot be complacent: Treasury secretary

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world's financial leaders cannot afford to be complacent following their collective response to combat the global financial crisis, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Friday. "Global growth is not robust, and we face headwinds from fiscal drag, private sector deleveraging, and inadequate global rebalancing," Lew said in a statement released in advance of the International Monetary Fund's steering committee's meeting. In Europe, the recovery remains weak and fiscal contraction and banking and business sector deleveraging will continue to act as headwinds to growth, Lew said. In particular, it is vital that Europe make progress on full banking union within the euro zone. Japan, Lew said, must achieve durable and robust growth featuring strong domestic demand. In countries with large trade and fiscal surpluses, it is not enough for domestic demand growth to rise, its growth must exceed gross domestic product growth, he said. On the U.S. domestic agenda, Lew said the administration is committed to working with Congress to achieve its fiscal goals. "The President has called on Congress to reopen the government and increase the statutory debt limit. Prior to the government shutdown, all signs pointed to the strengthening recovery of the U.S. economy," Lew said. "If Congress acts quickly, this will continue to be the case." The administration is also working with lawmakers to secure passage of legislation implementing the IMF's quota reforms adopted in 2010, he said. (Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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