US President Barack Obama warned slower US growth due to steep, looming government spending cuts could have a spillover effect on growth in other countries, dpa reported.
Obama called on Congress to take steps to avert the automatic cuts due to take effect next week and said the White House would continue to work with lawmakers on a solution.
"My hope is we can see a different course taken by Congress," he said on the sidelines of a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "This should be a no-brainer."
Unlike earlier talk about not increasing the US debt ceiling, the so-called sequester did not directly imperil global financial markets, but it could lead to slower growth in the US that would in turn hurt growth elsewhere, he noted.