Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, leaves Downing Street in central London, Britain October 9, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville

LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said on Wednesday that a “cloud of uncertainty” about Brexit was hanging over the country’s economy and needed to be cleared as quickly as possible.

“My general view of our economy is that it is fundamentally robust. We have some very strong things going for us, a strong outlook for the future,” Hammond told lawmakers.

“But the cloud of uncertainty is a temporary damper and we need to remove it as soon as possible by making progress with the (Brexit) negotiation process,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund kept its growth forecasts for Britain on hold on Tuesday even as it raised its projections for growth in many other economies around the world.