Don't count on U.S. consumer to end crisis: Treasury

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Timely policy adjustments, not stepped-up U.S. consumer spending, are the key to pulling the world out of its current economic crisis, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Thursday.

To sustain a recovery, every major country needs to be aware of how its policies are affecting the world economy and make any necessary changes, said Andrew Baukol, acting assistant secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Treasury.

"We can't all rely on the U.S. consumer going forward to spend," Baukol said during a conference in Montreal. "To address this, of course, each major economy, including the United States, will need to take some policy adjustments."

The International Monetary Fund "has a special responsibility to help inform countries about what the international implications of their own policies are and make some recommendations," he said.

(Reporting by Louise Egan; Writing by Frank McGurty; editing by Janet Guttsman)