US seeks aggressive action to stem economic slide: Obama

Washington, March 11 (DPA) The US will push for aggressive action to halt the global economic slide at an international financial summit next month, President Barack Obama said Wednesday, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the global economy and again warning against protectionist moves.

Ahead of April's Group of 20 (G20) gathering of the world's leading economies, Obama acknowledged that developing countries were being 'hard hit' by the fallout from an economic crisis that largely began in the United States.

Obama cited the aggressive moves already taken by the United States - including an unprecedented $787-billion stimulus package - and suggested other countries must do more to halt the slide of their own economies.

'The United States is part of an integrated global economy and so we have to think not only about what's going on here at home,' Obama said. 'We also have to be mindful about what's going on overseas.'

Obama's comments came amid a growing rift with the European Union over how to deal with the economic crisis. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker Monday rejected US pressure on EU governments to inject more funds into their economies.

Obama also said he would use the G20 summit to 'make sure also that we are not falling into protectionist patterns' in reaction to the global recession. A number of countries have increased trade barriers in efforts to protect domestic jobs and industries.