Japan wants more than short-term US fix

United States needs to take urgent action to address short-term fiscal uncertainties, says Japanese finance minister.

WASHINGTON: Japan called Friday for more than a short-term fix to US budget woes, warning that the world would feel the impact of a default.

"Japan expects this issue to be resolved once and for all without delay," Taro Aso, the deputy prime minister and finance minister, told reporters in Washington.

Aso was speaking after finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies, meeting in Washington, said that the United States needed to take "urgent action to address short-term fiscal uncertainties."

"Maybe the US wouldn't have liked to see this incorporated in the communique," Aso said. "But this is not only a matter for the United States."

Aso suggested that the United States needed a solution more permanent than a proposed deal to extend the debt ceiling for six weeks to avert default next week.

Without a deal, there would be "graver consequences than just the closures of national parks, so we are looking at this with a very close eye," Aso said.

The US government has been partially shut down as Republicans refuse to approve funding unless President Barack Obama guts his signature reform of expanding health care coverage.

Japan holds some $1.1 trillion in Treasuries, making it the biggest lender to the US government after China.