Christine Lagarde calls for swift Brexit reaction

Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, has said that the United Kingdom and European Union should act quickly and decisively in the wake of the former's decision to leave the latter, after three days of confusion.

The EU demanded that Britain begin formal negotiations immediately in order to make the process as quick as possible, but the UK are in no rush to begin proceedings after prime minister David Cameron announced that he will be leaving his position in October.

Lagarde said on Sunday that the fund “will continue to encourage the parties involved to actually proceed with this transition in the most efficient, predictable way in order to reduce the level of uncertainty, which will itself determine the level of risk we are facing”.

In her first official remarks after the historic vote, Lagarde acknowledged the political chaos surrounding both the Conservative and Labour parties.

“At this point in time policymakers both in the UK and in Europe are holding that level of uncertainty in their hands and how they come out in the next few days is really going to drive the direction in which risk will go,” she said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado.

“We are hearing at the moment, and I’m not inventing it, different statements going a little bit in many directions.”

The IMF was one of the several economic organisations that warned of the dangers a Brexit could have on the world economy.

“Policymakers are going to be in high demand to [act] in the most cohesive, concerted and hopefully positive way in response to the situation,” she said.