International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde yesterday backed the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain the existing scope and pace of its asset purchases earlier this week and called for a "gradual" restoration of normal monetary policy conditions.

Speaking before the US Chamber of Commerce, Lagarde suggested the IMF and the Fed were very much on the same wavelength, but took a more critical stance of the US government's inability to resolve its long-term budget and debt ceiling