Obama,IMF chief agree on need to boost growth

Obama must lift growth and cut U.S. unemployment currently pinned above 9 percent to be confident of winning re-election next year.

The President and the Managing Director agreed on the need for policies that foster growth and job creation in the near term,while securing medium-term fiscal consolidation, the White House said in a readout of a telephone call they held earlier on Friday.

They also concurred on the importance of rebalancing global demand towards emerging markets, the White House said.

It was Obamas first conversation with the former French finance minister since she took the top IMF job over from her countryman Dominique Strauss-Kahn in July.