G20 Summit Approves of UK Budget
Prime Minister David Cameron is insisting that the G20 summit is backing the UK’s strategy to cut the budget deficit. He said that they, as well as G8, agreed that the timing and speed of deficit reduction programs will vary with national circumstances.
Talking to the Commons, Cameron said that the verdict of the G20 was unequivocal. Countries that have large deficits should act now, he continued, and since Britain has one of the biggest deficits in G20, the summit specifically welcomed the budget’s plans.
However, acting Labour leader Harriett Harman has criticized Cameron’s claim, saying that nothing in the statement from G20 provided justification for his decision to cut the deficit by more and quicker than what was planned by Labour. She said the summit called for growth-friendly consolidation and questioned how it’s growth-friendly to cut investment allowances for manufacturing firms, to cut back on investment in high-tech export-orientated British companies and to scrap regional development agencies. Harman added that the conclusions of G20 amounted to nothing more than agreeing to disagree.
Cameron also said in a statement that the argument by some that growth and reducing the deficit are mutually exclusive is totally wrong. There was a broad agreement on how the world should maximize growth by structural reform, tackling imbalances and deficit reduction, he continued. The G20 committed to at least cut current national deficits in half by 2013 and stabilize government debt to GDP ratios by 2016, he added.
Chancellor George Osborne was also positive about the summit, noting a change of tone. He said that there is an understanding of how the sovereign debt crisis has impacted the globe, he added, as well as how important it is that countries prove that they have serious, credible plans to live within their means.