State debt to become 'biggest problem': IMF

DAVOS (AFP) - IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Saturday that state debt will become the worlds biggest economic problem and some countries will need seven years to fix their finances.
The fiscal sustainability problem is going to be one of the biggest, maybe the biggest problem for the coming ... several years, Strauss-Kahn told the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Well have to deal with this for five, six or seven years, depending on the country, he said.
Strauss-Kahns comments came as worries over Greeces debt woes clouded the Davos forum, where Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has been trying to reassure markets that his country will act to beat its debt crisis.
The United States and many other developed countries also have major budget deficits as they pump in extraordinary sums to stimulate their economies during the global slowdown.
As the global economy begins to recover, the debate has turned from how much stimulus to inject to when to end pump priming, particularly since the cash measures have increased deficits.
Strauss-Kahn noted that even if continuing stimulus packages could exacerbate debt, the risk of ending them too early was greater.
The only reason of a double dip could appear would be that the exit after the stimulus would be too early. In this case, frankly I dont know what we can do, he said.
A double-dip recession refers to a recession followed by a short-lived recovery, followed by another recession.
With global economy recovery still fragile, Strauus-Kahns assessment is basically not to exit too early.
All that has been prepared for 2010 has to be implemented, he said.