The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Thursday urged the United States to raise the debt ceiling and improve its fiscal sustainability over the long run, the latest such warning from the global lender.

"In the United States, current debt dynamics with unchanged policies are unsustainable. The imperative at the current conjuncture is to raise the debt ceiling," the IMF noted in a staff note prepared for the meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) Deputies held in France during July 9 to 10.

"Although markets do not appear overly concerned at this point, a loss of fiscal credibility would be extremely damaging, not only for the United States, but for the rest of the world, given the role of the U.S. in world capital markets," noted the document.

The Washington-based IMF cited the looming debt default crisis in the United States one of the key downside risks for the global economic recovery.

Growth is expected to remain slackening in advanced economies facing household, fiscal and financial sector balance sheet problems, but strong in many emerging markets, noted the IMF.

The borrowing limit, currently at 14.29 trillion U.S. dollars, was reached on May 16. The U.S. Treasury Department warned that the world's largest economy would default without an agreement to lift the limit by Aug. 2.

Fiscal adjustment is currently a concern for both political parties and the administration, contended the IMF, adding that little progress has yet been seen in breaking the political standstill over how to carry out the needed fiscal consolidation.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet