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Toronto - The most industrialised members of the G20 will agree Sunday to strive to cut their deficits in half between now and 2013, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters.
"This will be part of the final document," Merkel said, as she and her fellow leaders arrived at the G20 summit venue in downtown Toronto for their second and final day of talks.
Merkel came to Canada determined to defend the decision by several European governments to slash public deficits, despite fears in Washington and other G20 capitals that this will stifle growth.
Europe has been rocked by a sovereign debt crisis that has pushed some eurozone members, notably Greece, close to default and undermined financial stability in the single currency bloc.
The response of G20 members Germany, Britain and to a lesser extent France has been to order massive cuts in government spending and tax increases in order to bring the deficits under control.
US officials have criticised the tactic, fearing rapid cuts could slow the still fragile global recovery, but reports Sunday indicated that President Barack Obama may agree to set a medium-term debt reduction goal.
- AFP
