HUNTSVILLE, Ontario — Fresh from a congressional win on a financial overhaul, President Barack Obama pressed world leaders Friday to join him in backing stronger rules against banking abuses. He made little headway in his call for more stimulus to keep the world economy growing.
Instead, he ran into strong opposition from countries wanting to put deficit reduction first.
“Those countries with budget deficits need to do that and, as a world, we need to address the imbalances,” said Britain’s new prime minister, David Cameron, after meeting Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister.
Cameron’s government proposed an emergency budget this week of increased taxes and the toughest cuts in public spending in decades.
As Obama and other leaders sparred over how to keep their economies from slipping back into recession, there was little expectation of economic breakthroughs.
Divided on economic remedies, the leaders sought common ground on issues such as confronting nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea and maternal and infant health care in poor countries — a key project of Harper’s.
Harper, the summit’s host, announced late Friday that leaders of the Group of Eight major industrial democracies — the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Italy and Russia — had pledged to contribute $5 billion during the next five years to the initiative.
He said Canada’s contribution was $1.1 billion. The White House said the U.S. commitment would total $1.35 billion over two years, with that support subject to congressional approval.
Cameron was asked at a news conference why he thought the G8 would honor this commitment when it hadn’t honored many past ones.
“Because of the tight budgetary situation we are seeing in many countries, leaders are being very cautious as to the pledges they have made,” he said.
The eight-nation group met at a resort in Canada’s Muskoka region north of Toronto. Today and Sunday, the focus shifts to Toronto, where their number will grow to 20 as they are joined by leaders representing nations such as China, India and Brazil.
The Group of 20 has been overshadowing the Group of Eight as the world’s premier forum for discussing and coordinating economic policy.
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