U.S. President Barack Obama says leaders of the world's 20 largest economies took actions that "brought the global economy back from the brink."
Mr. Obama made the comments to reporters at the end of the two-day G-20 summit in the eastern U.S. city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He said the leaders agreed to leave stimulus programs in place until economic recoveries are firm. They also agreed to increase regulation of the financial system and tie executive pay to long-term performance. And the leaders decided to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels. The burning of such fuels is viewed as a cause of climate change.
World leaders also declared that the world's major and developing economies are forging a new approach to economics. The G-20 will take on economic issues that have traditionally been handled by the G-8, a small group of wealthy nations.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Friday reaffirmed that the Group of 20 will become the world's "premier international organization" on economic matters.