Ms Lagarde said on September 9 that the ongoing debt crisis in Europe has resulted in an uncertain outlook for the global economy.

The IMF chief added that whilst efforts to solve the crisis were heading in the right direction, more needed to be done to restore confidence.

“Weakness in the export sector will be the main hindrance to economic growth in the coming quarters,” she said.

Ms Lagarde's comments come amid fears that the debt crisis in some peripheral countries may be spreading to some of the euro area's biggest economies.

On September 8, Italy's cost of borrowing hit the highest level since the euro was founded in 1999. The yield on Italian 10-year government bonds rose to 6.77 percent, raising concerns about its capacity to service its debts.

Many investors believe that Italy may have to bail out just like Greece, the Irish Republic and Portugal.

The fear is that as the eurozone debt crisis spreads, it will have a big impact on the international economy.

While the US and eurozone economies have been struggling with their individual issues, Asian countries led by China have been growing robustly in recent years.

However, there is a realization that in a globalized economy, Asia is not immune from troubles in the rest of the world.