Leaders differ on how to sustain global recovery

Protesters march against the G-8 and G-20 summits in Toronto on Friday.

At G-8, Obama touts stimulus; other countries eye deficit reduction

HUNTSVILLE, Ontario — Fresh from a congressional win on a financial overhaul, President Barack Obama pressed world leaders on 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," Britain's conservative new prime minister, David Cameron, said Friday after meeting summit host Stephen Harper, Canada's prime minister. His government brought forward an emergency budget this week that proposed 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 from sessions here and in Toronto.

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