Osborne says met U.S.'s Lew, Boehner and Ryan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne said on Friday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and Republican Representative Paul Ryan all expressed to him a determination to not let the U.S. budget standoff grow any worse.
"I was encouraged by all of them being pretty clear that they needed some kind of deal; whether it's a far-reaching, comprehensive one or something that kicks the can down the road a bit remains to be seen," said Osborne after meeting Lew, Boehner and Ryan on Thursday.
"Although the people I met come at this issue from very, very different places, what was striking, particularly as I happened to sort of meet them one after another, is that they were very similar in the way they expressed their concern about the situation and their determination to avoid a difficult situation getting a lot worse."
Osborne is in Washington for the autumn meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of 20 developed and emerging economies are gathering on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank meetings.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by James Dalgleish)
