Rehn says impact of US shutdown on global economy may not be excessive
PARIS (Reuters) - The impact on the global economy from the partial shutdown of the U.S. government will not be excessive if it does not last long, the European Union's top economic official said on Tuesday.
"It is very disappointing that the U.S. government had to face a shutdown because of a lack of a political agreement," Olli Rehn, the European commissioner in charge of economic and monetary affairs, said in Paris.
"On the condition that it won't last long then the impact on the global economy should not be excessive," Rehn said.
"But of course the recovery of the global economy and also in the European economy has been so fragile. We do not need any new risks or any new elements of political instability. This might start derailing the still ... fragile economic recovery," he added.
Up to a million federal workers were thrown out of work temporarily on Tuesday as the U.S. government partially shut down for the first time in 17 years in a standoff between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans over healthcare reforms.
(Reporting by Ingrid Melander and Eva Taylor; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
