Obama asks more economic balance from G-20

An activist shouts anti-G20 slogans during a protest in front of the building housing the office of International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Manila yesterday to coincide with the Group of 20 developed and developing countries summit in the US city of Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh summit, the third in 10 months, convenes as the IMF and other authorities see a fragile recovery in the global economy and G20 members are contemplating exit strategies from unprecedented public economic support.Photo: AFP

With the world's major economies having stepped back from the brink of a devastating meltdown, President Barack Obama comes to a global summit here pushing a slimmed-down agenda designed to prevent a repeat of the conditions that caused such panic a few months ago.
Obama will tell world leaders that the global economy cannot continually rely on huge borrowing and spending by Americans and massive exports by countries such as China.
This is the third meeting of the Group of 20 top economies in the aftermath of the financial crisis that plunged the world into fear a year ago. When the G-20 met in April, the economies of the United States and many other countries were under severe strain, and world leaders largely agreed on common remedies such as dramatically increased government spending to provide some stimulus.
Now, with the crisis seemingly averted, the leaders will meet in a calmer atmosphere to discuss how best to keep reinvigorating their economies without repeating earlier mistakes.