Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that every day lost in resolving Greece’s problems risks spreading the impact “far away”.
World financial markets, recovering slightly on Wednesday, have been badly hit by fears of contagion from Greece.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was speaking at a news conference in Berlin after trying to persuade reluctant German politicians to back the terms of a rescue deal.
But even as politicians were trying to resolve the crisis, Europe’s debt problems were flaring elsewhere.
The Standard & Poor’s ratings agency delivered more bad news by downgrading Spain’s debt to AA from AA+. The agency said Spain’s growth prospects were weak after the collapse of a credit-fueled housing and construction bubble.
Click here to read more on the Greek debt crisis and the role of credit rating agencies
For a full list of S&P’s country ratings click here
Full story: BBC News – Greece crisis: Fears grow that it could spread