David Cameron claimed victory at the G20 summit last night after the group of rich and emerging nations acknowledged a need for austerity budgets in countries facing debt crises.
Mr Cameron said it had been a “busy weekend but one which has brought many positive outcomes for Britain, if not on the football field then here at the summit”.
“It’s a mistake to think this summit has been about a different approach between the Americans and Europeans,” he said. “The whole point of these summits ... is that we need to do things in a co-ordinated way across the world to maximise growth.
“For some people, particularly countries like Britain with the biggest budget deficit in the G20, that action has to be fiscally consolidated, it has to be sorting out our debts and our deficit so we get confidence in our economy.
“What the G20 has agreed is that this is not an alternative to growth — this is part of the global growth package.
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“It’s important that the countries with the biggest budget deficits accelerate that action ... that is specific backing for the budget we have introduced.”
A joint communiqué at the end of the summit praised the impact of economic stimulus packages in tackling the recession but added: “Those countries with serious fiscal challenges need to accelerate the pace of consolidation.
“It is clear that consolidation will need to begin in advanced economies in 2011 and earlier for countries experiencing significant fiscal challenges.” Mr Cameron’s Government has announced plans to slash public budgets immediately despite opposition claims this will risk Britain’s recovery.
The G20 countries agreed a non-binding target of halving budget deficits by 2013 and stabilising or reducing debt by 2016, with a marked change of emphasis from the last two such summits, where the focus was on unprecedented levels of state support for fragile economies.
George Osborne, the Chancellor, hailed a “change of tone”.
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“People have understood the impact of the sovereign debt crisis and the necessity of countries to prove not just to international investors but to their own domestic populations that they have got serious, credible plans to live within their means,” he said.
Mr Cameron emerged from the summit with a burnished reputation as a player on the world stage, after a cordial meeting with President Medvedev of Russia, an invitation from the Chinese premier to visit China in November, and one-on-one talks with Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister.
After meeting Barack Obama for the first time, he was offered a lift in the US President’s helicopter from the G8 summit in Deerhurst, Canada, to the G20 in Toronto when fog grounded all other aircraft. Other world leaders had to travel by road.
He was pictured swapping beers with President Obama after a World Cup bet on the two countries’ fortunes ended in a draw.
Mr Cameron said last night: “I hope you will know what I mean when I say I thought the special relationship took off during the time we spent together.”
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After disquiet in Britain over the plunging fortunes of BP during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Mr Cameron secured agreement from Mr Obama that the financial health of the company was vital.
He even found time for an impromptu swim at Deerhurst, diving into a lake in his running shorts while out for a jog.
But the G20 countries postponed until November a specific policy on forcing banks to hold more capital against future financial crises and stopped short of endorsing a global bank levy, as sought by some nations.