Obama lauds G-20 pledge to halve deficits.

President had expressed concerns that cutting stimulus could hurt recovery.

President Barack Obama on Sunday said he welcomed an international commitment for rich countries to slash their deficits in half by 2013, despite his earlier warnings against halting stimulus spending too abruptly.
"We can't all rush to the exits at the same time," Obama told a news conference at the conclusion of a summit of the 20 major industrial and developing economies.
Obama also issued a warning to North Korea, saying its alleged sinking of a South Korean warship was "belligerent behavior that is unacceptable" to the international community.
"It is absolutely critical for the international community to rally behind" South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Obama said.
Obama spoke after G-20 leaders issued a statement calling for "advanced" nations to cut their budget deficits — as a proportion of gross domestic product growth — in half by 2013, and to put their annual deficits on either a lower or more stable basis by 2016.
Despite his warnings against slamming on the stimulus breaks too soon, Obama said the final summit communique was in sync with is own views that deficit reduction was important for the midterm and long term. But in the short run, he said, it is important to maintain stimulus spending in those countries that can afford it.
"Some countries, Greece being the most obvious example, have to act immediately" to lessen the risk of defaulting on their debt obligations, Obama said. But other countries have to decide how much flexibility they have to both encourage growth and job creation without going too much deeper into debt.
"The point is, in each country, what we have to recognize is that the recovery is still fragile," Obama said.
But if financial markets are skittish and don't have confidence in a country's fiscal soundness, "then that is also going to undermine our recovery."
World leaders generally sided with cutting spending and raising taxes, despite warnings from President Barack Obama that too much austerity too quickly could choke off the global recovery.
"Serious challenges remain," they cautioned in a closing statement set for release later Sunday. "While growth is returning, the recovery is uneven and fragile, unemployment in many countries remains at unacceptable levels, and the social impact of the crisis is still widely felt," according to the document from the Group of 20 major industrial and developing nations.
The Associated Press obtained a draft of the document that a senior G-20 official called "99 percent complete." He spoke on the condition of anonymity because the document was yet to be made public.
Summit participants navigated a careful course between Obama, with his emphasis on growth, and fellow leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel who advocated spending cuts and even tax increases.
"Advanced economies have committed to fiscal plans that will at least halve deficits by 2013 and stabilize or reduce government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016," according to the statement. The gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value of all goods and services, and is considered the best gauge of economic health.
At the same time, the statement incorporated Obama's cautions against pulling back government supports too quickly. "To sustain recovery, we need to follow through on delivering existing stimulus plans, while working to create the conditions for robust private demand," it said.
A White House statement said the G-20's Toronto agreement carries through with existing stimulus programs while recognizing that deficit-reduction "needs to be calibrated ... and tailored to national circumstances."
The G-20 document came at the end of three days of economic summitry.
Conditions on the streets of Canada's biggest city remained tense Sunday.
Police, responding more aggressively than they had the day before, raided a university campus and rounded up protesters in an effort to quell further violence after youths rampaged through the city the night before, smashing windows and torching police cruisers. Police said they arrested more than 500 demonstrators.