With the US having recently opened itself to one of the most intense investigations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country was Thursday asked by the agency to curb its budget deficits.

Criticizing some of the well-defended aspects of the American way of life - including subsidized housing, cheap fuel, and a government retirement check – and saying that the Obama administration was overestimating US economic growth, the IMF added that the country required to cut down government deficits by hundreds of billions of additional dollars, so as to meet its announced budget targets.

Noting that though the US financial revival was becoming “increasingly well established,” the associated risks still remained a negative aspect, the IMF has also proposed an array of likely tax increases that would be certain to generate notable political opposition, from reducing the popular tax deduction for home mortgages to instituting a national sales tax.

Talking about the risks, the IMF elaborated that there was a likelihood of a double-dip recession in housing, sustained decline in commercial real estate, and the threats that the European debt crisis had posed to the US economy.

However, IMF also added that the US rebound from the economic crisis has, thus far, “proved stronger than we had earlier expected,” largely because of the government’s “powerful and effective policy response,” including the efforts of the Federal Reserve.