IMF official warns of a longer global crisis

The newspaper quoted Jaime Caruana, the IMF's director of monetary and capital markets department, warning of the longer-term risks for the European economy.

"Looking at it realistically, it is to be expected that it will be a long time before we reach the end of the crisis," he told the newspaper on the sidelines of the IMF meeting in Washington at the weekend.

Caruana also warned of a credit squeeze in Europe. "If you ask yourself what is best and what politicians should do, it is sensible to assume there will be a significant credit squeeze also in the euro zone," he said.

Caruana said there was a danger that a credit shock would hit the real economy. "The United States is at the epicenter of these developments but a significant credit squeeze is also very possible in other regions of the world, even in Europe and the euro zone," he added, noting that European banks were "under pressure" after investing in risky products.

At the weekend meeting, world finance leaders announced a plan to clean up banks and vowed to rein in foreign exchange markets but there was little hope the credit crisis was nearing an end.