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G8 summit ends with few tangible results

By Sun Hao: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, May 20, 2012

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Leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) on Saturday voiced a growing consensus on pro-growth policies and expressed grave concern over Tehran's nuclear program at a low-key summit, which, however, produced few tangible results beyond a vague statement touching on the issue of Iran.

Growing consensus, limited means

"There's now an emerging consensus that more must be done to promote growth and job creation right now," U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday wrapping up the G8 summit he just hosted at Camp David, the secluded presidential retreat in Maryland.

Leaders of the G8 major industrialized nations said in a declaration that bolstering economic growth and job creation was critical to the global economic recovery, amid a Greek political deadlock and growing banking sector stress in Spain and Italy.

"The global economic recovery shows signs of promise, but significant headwinds persist," the G8 leaders said, underlining an imperative "to promote growth and jobs," and affirming their interest in Greece remaining in the eurozone while "respecting its commitments."

Some of the leaders, including Obama and his new French counterpart Francois Holland, apparently tried to signal a pro-growth agenda and to balance the austerity approach championed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, a morning discussion trying to bridge the disagreement finally produced a statement with a quite balancing tone by pledging to "maintain a firm commitment to implement fiscal consolidation."

Heather Conley, an expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said Obama and Hollande "clearly see things very similarly about the need for a better balance between fiscal consolidation, austerity and economic growth."

But the former deputy assistant secretary for European affairs in the U.S. State Department also noted that the challenge now is to figure out "the details of what that growth would look like"-- a question to which all the leaders failed to reach an answer at the summit.

"You will have a new European triangle, of president Hollande, chancellor Merkel and prime minister Monti and you have to see whether that growth-austerity balance can be achieved," said Conley.

Obama on Saturday stressed that the eurozone debt crisis was threatening the global economic recovery, but the region had capacity to meet its challenges.

For Obama's part, he could only play a limited role, Conley said. "This is really for Europe to sort out -- that has certainly been the administration's approach in policy to that ... We are sitting on the bleachers a bit."

But the anxiety to see Europe return to economic health is certainly real, she stressed, given that economic issues undoubtedly dominated Obama's re-election campaign trail and a rapid deterioration in the euro zone will inevitably punch U.S. fragile economic recovery and complicate Obama's presidential bid.

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