'No end soon' to economy stimulus

The PM wants other nations to commit to continuing government support

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said there will be no early end to the international stimulus package aimed at taking the world out of recession.

Speaking ahead of his departure for the meeting of leaders of the G20 richest nations in the US, Mr Brown said there was need to "safeguard" recovery.

The timing of stimulus withdrawal is likely to be one of the key issues at the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh.

UK officials have said any action must be co-ordinated at international level.

Depression fear

With Japan, France and Germany officially out of recession, minds are turning to co-ordinating the withdrawal of billions of aid and stimulus measures that were injected into countries by their governments over the past year.

Mr Brown has said he wants countries such as the US, France and Germany to commit to continued government support for their economies as they emerges from recession.

At a meeting of finance ministers in London earlier this month, it was agreed that stimulus packages should be maintained "until recovery is secured".

"What we want to do is safeguard a recovery from a recession we feared would develop into a depression," Mr Brown said.

He reiterated calls for the Pittsburgh summit to be a "global compact for growth and jobs".

The economy is one of five key challenges which the prime minister says world leaders have to address this week, along with climate change, poverty, nuclear proliferation and terrorism.

Ahead of Pittsburgh, Mr Brown will attend the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.