An abrupt fall may be ahead for the dollar. As the dollar reached yet another record low against the euro, the head of the International Monetary Fund (imf) warned that it could have further to go. A runaway sell-off, he said, could hurt other major economies.

“There are risks that an abrupt fall in the dollar could either be triggered by, or itself trigger, a loss of confidence in dollar assets,” said imf chief Rodrigo Rato.

Rato spoke amid growing concerns that the recession in the U.S. housing market could spread to the rest of the economy. “We still do not know the full effects of the decline in the housing market and the subprime problems of the U.S. economy,” he said. “Further disruption in financial markets and further falls in housing prices could lead to a global economic downturn.”

The imf chief warned that such a fall in the dollar could hurt the “growth prospects” of countries with flexible exchange rates, but also that some emerging economies could be “tipped into a crisis.”

Rato also warned of inflationary pressures created by high oil and food prices.

As reverberations are still being felt from the subprime loan fiasco around the world, be warned: A secondary quake may be on its way, and it could be of even greater magnitude than the first.