Washington, Aug 9 (IANS): Even as the US markets took their worst hit since the 2008 financial crisis in reaction to the US losing its top notch AAA credit rating, President Barack Obama sought to reassure a jittery America.

"No matter what some agency may say, we've always been and always will be a triple-A country," he told reporters at the White House Monday calling on Washington to find the "will" to put America on even stronger fiscal footing.

Calling for political will from both Democratic and Republican parties to fix what he described as the country's "eminently solvable" economic problems in the wake of Friday's downgrade of its credit rating by Standard & Poor's.

The downgrade, he said, occurred because "they doubted our political system's ability to act" following the gruelling negotiations with congressional leaders that preceded last week's agreement on a debt ceiling increase.

Now it will take political will on the part of Democrats and Republicans, the president said, calling on all involved to stop refusing "to put what's best for the country ahead of self-interest or party or ideology."

"We knew from the outset that a prolonged debate over the debt ceiling, a debate where the threat of default was used as a bargaining chip, could do enormous damage to our economy and the world's," Obama said.

"That threat, coming after a string of economic disruptions in Europe, Japan and the Middle East, has now roiled the markets and dampened consumer confidence and slowed the pace of recovery," he said.

Calling the situation a "legitimate source of concern," Obama said the "good news" is that "our problems are eminently solvable. And we know what we have to do to solve them.