IMF welcomes Obama fiscal reform plan, urges more

US President Barack Obama's announcement this week on broad-based fiscal reforms are welcome but it is urgent that Washington be more specific about its plans to cut its budget deficit and public debt, a senior IMF official said.

Carlo Cottarelli, director of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, also told a news conference that Japan was in need of fiscal tightening over the medium term to lower its debt load. "Tax reform and action on the revenue side is going to be very important for Japan," Cottarelli told reporters.