Putin calls US a parasite on global economy

Calling the United States a 'parasite' on the global economy, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said, "They are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy."

Putin said the United States is burdening the global economy with its problems and the monopoly of the dollar.

Putin's hard-hitting comments come in the wake of the US House of Representatives passing the bipartisan bill to avert a massive debt default and reduce trillions in government spending, paving way for the austerity measure to face a Senate vote.

The Budget Control Act of 2011 was passed by the House of Representatives by 269-161, a day after leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties and the White House reached an agreement.

The measure seeks to raise the debt ceiling from $14.3 trillion and cut deficit by $2.4 trillion over 10 years.

Putin said the US may have been toying with the default issue to weaken the dollar and create better conditions for exporting their goods.

Pointing out that a possible default would have badly affected the global economy, Putin said, "They had enough common sense and responsibility" to avoid a default.