Obama tells G20 US can&#39;t carry world economy

Brisbane - The United States cannot "carry the world economy",
President Barack Obama said on Saturday, as the G20 readies an
action plan that could boost growth prospects for rich and poor
nations alike.

Leaders of the world's top industrial economies are meeting in
Brisbane to nail down ways to boost their combined growth by at least
two trillion dollars via domestic policy reforms, and so generate
millions of new jobs.

The US economy is finally kicking into gear just as challenges emerge
elsewhere to the world outlook, notably in Europe, China and Japan.
Obama urged his G20 colleagues to work harder to rev up growth.

"Over the last few years the US has put more people back to work than
all other advanced economies combined," he said on the sidelines of the
summit, with the US unemployment rate falling to 5.8% in October, its
lowest level since July 2008.
"But America can't be expected to just carry the world economy on
our back.

"So here in Brisbane the G20 has a responsibility to act, to boost
demand and invest more in infrastructure and create good jobs for
the people of all our nations."

The G20 leaders were initially expected to sign off on a vow to lift
growth by two percent over the currently projected level in the next
five years.

But a draft copy of the Brisbane Action Plan said that, owing to
worries about sluggish conditions worldwide, the leaders will agree to
reforms that could accelerate growth by 2.1%.
"We have developed comprehensive growth strategies that address
these challenges," the plan says, according to The Australian
newspaper.

"Analysis by the IMF and OECD indicates that full implementation of
these strategies will lift our collective GDP by 2.1% through to 2018
above the trajectory implied by the policies at the time of the St
Petersburg summit (last year)."

'Hope and optimism'
G20 nations, which make up 85% of the world economy, plan to meet
the goal by accelerating infrastructure investment, financial reform
and encouraging free trade.

The newspaper said a new overseer, run by the International
Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development, would monitor the G20 commitments and hold countries
to account if they do not deliver.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the G20 host, admitted global
growth was fragile but said "the message that should come from us
over these next two days is a message of hope and optimism".

"Yes, our world can grow and, yes, our world can deliver the jobs that
our people want," he said in opening remarks to the world leaders
before their closed-door talks.

"It is not just what we want to achieve, it is how we will deliver it.
We believe that, as a result of the work that we will do, the world can
grow by more than 2% more over the next five years than would
otherwise be the case."

Whether the rhetoric can be matched by results remains to be seen
with growth disappointing in Europe while Japan is once again
pumping out huge amounts of money to prop up its economy and even
China is starting to falter.

Ahead of the G20, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned that the
global economy could not endure a "European lost decade", criticising
"status quo policies" in the eurozone.
Obama, who jetted into Brisbane early on Saturday after attending
an East Asia summit in Myanmar and the Apec forum on Asia-Pacific
trade in Beijing, highlighted abolishing protectionism and cracking
down on corruption as key to hitting growth goals.

In parallel, the G20 nations are working to close corporate loopholes
that allow some multinational companies to pay barely anything in tax,
after a major dispute erupted over Luxembourg's sweetheart domicile
deals with a slew of firms.

- AFP