Just days before the G-20 Summit in Toronto, two top US officials have proposed a three-point agenda for the world's top 20 economic countries.
The agenda, articulated by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Obama's top Economic Advisor Larry Summers, in an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, exhorts G-20 members to continue working together towards securing the global recovery.
"We must ensure that global demand is both strong and balanced. While the US was the major source of demand for the world economic growth before the crisis, global demand must rest on many pillars going forward", they said.
Geithner and Summers said emerging economies could help strengthen the global recovery by strengthening domestic sources of growth and by allowing more flexibility in their exchange rates.
"We welcome China's recent decision to do so and look forward to its vigorous implementation," they said.
The agenda also sought acceleration in efforts to establish a global framework for financial regulation and progress on other global challenges, essential to the future security and prosperity of the world.
The duo said the G-20 must support Europe's reform program and the bailout package by the European Central Bank and the IMF to rescue European continental economies facing acute fiscal challenges.
"There is a broad consensus about the importance of fiscal sustainability, but the precise timing and sequencing of that consolidation should vary across countries and be calibrated to maintain the momentum of private sector recovery," they wrote in the article.
While asking countries to implement credible plans to stabilise debt-to-GDP levels, they said commitment to reducing long-term deficits should not be at the expense of short-term growth.
"Without growth now, deficits will rise further and undermine future growth," they wrote.
They emphasised that besides laying a new foundation for economic growth, the G-20 conclave needed to work on raising living standards across developing countries by encouraging smarter developments in agriculture sector to provide food security.
