The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is on a collision course with chancellor George Osborne and Bank of England governor Mervyn King after the Washington-based agency voiced concern over Britain's refusal to support a funding package to tackle the eurozone crisis.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the IMF, said Europe needed to come up with a more coherent plan to deal with government debt following the bailouts of Ireland and Greece. He criticised piecemeal attempts to resolve individual countries' debt problems, which critics believe leads to instability and undermines investor confidence in Europe.

The likelihood of prolonged negotiations over a Portuguese bailout deal was another instance of the need for an overarching mechanism to deal with all EU countries should they get into trouble, Strauss-Kahn told the IMF's spring conference.

However, Osbornehas made it clear that he believes resolving the debt problems of eurozone countries is a matter for the eurozone and not for the broader EU, which includes nations with their own currencies.

The UK is expected to participate in raising €85bn-€90bn (£52bn-£55bn) to support Portugal, but Osborne has told France and Germany there will be no more cash from the UK for eurozone bailouts after the Portugal deal.

The chancellor would like to go further and repeal article 122 of the Treaty of Lisbon, which has been used to corral EU member states to bail out Ireland and Greece. The treaty says: "Where a member state is in difficulties or is seriously threatened with difficulties caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences beyond its control, the council, on a