L’AQUILA, Italy — Lasting worldwide recovery “is still a ways off,” President Barack Obama declared Friday, but he also said at the conclusion of a global summit that a disastrous economic collapse apparently has been averted.
Obama said world leaders had taken significant measures to address economic, environmental and global security issues.
“Reckless actions by a few have fueled a recession that spans the globe,” Obama said of the meltdown that began in the United States with a tumble in housing prices and drastic slowing of business lending. The downturn now threatens superpowers and emerging nations alike.
Obama urged national leaders to unite behind a global recovery plan that includes stricter financial regulation and sustained stimulus spending.
“The only way forward is through shared and persistent effort to combat threats to our peace, our prosperity and our common humanity wherever they may exist. None of this will be easy,” Obama said at the end of the Group of Eight summit of major economic powers.
The president rejected suggestions that the summit fell short of expectations by failing to call for tough new sanctions on Iran for its crackdown on democracy advocates after its disputed presidential election.
“What we wanted was exactly what we got, which is a statement of unity and strong condemnation,” Obama said. He said the leaders’ declaration was even more significant because it included Russia, “which doesn’t make statements like that lightly.”
The president was next turning to more photogenic events: a meeting with the pope and a stop in Africa.
Obama, his wife and senior advisers met Pope Benedict XVI and exchanged gifts shortly before leaving Italy late Friday.
Obama and Benedict had spoken by phone but had not met before.
“It’s a great honor for me. Thank you so much,” Obama said as he met the pontiff.
Benedict asked Obama about the G-8 summit, eliciting Obama’s assessment that it was “very productive.”
The cameras clattered while they sat down at the pope’s desk. “Your Holiness, I’m sure you’re used to having your picture taken. I’m getting used to it,” Obama said.
Later in the day, Obama flew to Ghana on his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president, but second visit to Africa. He gave a speech in Egypt last month.
He landed in Ghana soon after 9 p.m. local time and met a long line of dignitaries, led by President John Atta Mills. An ethnic African group danced and banged drums for Obama’s arrival. Obama will make a speech to lawmakers there and tour an oceanfront fort once used to ship slaves to the Americas. Obama, joined by his wife and two daughters, will be in Ghana less than 24 hours.
Earlier, on a pressing issue back home, Obama acknowledged that his top legislative priority — health care overhaul — had encountered rocky going in Congress during his overseas trip, with opposition building among both Republicans and economically conservative Democrats.
But he said he still was confident of getting the measure passed before Congress begins its August recess.
Asked if that timetable was “do or die,” Obama responded: “I never believe anything is do-or-die. But I really want to get it done by the August recess.”
On the world economy, Obama said that rising food prices mean millions more are falling into desperate poverty “and right now, at this defining moment, we face a choice. We can either shape our future or let events shape it for us.”
“While our markets are improving and we appear to have averted global collapse, we know that too many people are still struggling. So we agree that full recovery is still a ways off.” He said the world leaders felt “it would be premature to begin winding down our stimulus plans.”
Earlier in the week, the 186-nation International Monetary Fund released an updated economic forecast, predicting that the global economy will shrink 1.4 percent this year, the worst performance in the post-World War II period. That forecast was slightly worse than the 1.3 percent decline the IMF predicted in April.
The international lending agency did see prospects improving for next year with global growth forecast to climb to 2.5 percent, up from an April projection of 1.9 percent.
Six months into his presidency, Obama said he supports a streamlining of summits — the G-8, G-20 and NATO — and attending fewer of those meetings. He said the United Nations is in need of reform, but international summits fill a gap left by a U.N. structure that doesn’t leverage its power as effectively as it could.
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