Obama urges G20 to keep up spending or risk eroding recovery

US President Barack Obama urged other world powers to keep up public spending levels or risk eroding the global economic recovery, in a letter to other Group of 20 (G20) leaders Thursday obtained by the German Press Agency dpa.

With many European governments saddled by debt and announcing major austerity plans, Obama warned that the world's recovery from recession remained extremely fragile.

"We worked exceptionally hard to restore growth; we cannot let it falter or lose strength now," Obama wrote.

Obama said the economic recovery must be the "highest priority" of world leaders when the G20 meets for a summit later this month in Toronto.

He urged the G20 to "reaffirm our unity of purpose to provide the policy support necessary to keep economic growth strong."