G20 urges US to deal with political paralysis

WASHINGTON—Finance chiefs of the G20 on Friday called for Washington to quickly resolve the political paralysis over its budget and debt ceiling.

Singling the United States out in a statement on the issues confronting global finance, representatives of theworld’s most powerful economies signaled worry about the stalemate that could potentially force Washington to default on its debt.

“The US needs to take urgent action to address shortterm fiscal uncertainties,” the G20 finance ministers and central bankers, including those from the United States, said in a statement.

Meeting in Washington, the officials warned that there were still risks to global economic growth, and that many countries faced “unacceptably high unemployment.”

Asked about the G20 views of the US political stalemate, Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov said he was optimistic about the US reaching a timely solution to the problem.

“We wish for this crisis to be resolved as soon as possible,” he said, speaking through a translator. “No one benefits from ... uncertainty.”

Earlier, in an inadvertently broadcast portion of the closed meeting of the G20 officials, Siluanov was more direct. Speaking for Moscow, he urged his US counterpart to resolve the deadlock, which threatens to force the US to default on its debt, “as quickly as possible.”

At that point he expressed doubts that the White House and congressional Republicans were close to a compromise.

“There doesn’t seem to be a prospect for that,” he said.