Washington - President Barack Obama said Wednesday he was mindful of the dangers brought on by the country's skyrocketing budget deficit, warning that too much spending could lead the United States into another recession. Obama, who has taken heavy criticism from fiscal conservatives for running the deficit to record levels during the economic crisis, acknowledged that unprecedented spending measures could not continue much longer.
"I think it is important, though, to recognize that if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point people could lose confidence in the US economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession," Obama told US broadcaster Fox News during his visit to Asia.
The federal budget deficit topped 1.4 trillion dollars, or about 10 per cent of economic output, in the 2009 fiscal year, largely because of massive public spending projects to help pull the US out of its worst recession in seven decades.
But with US unemployment still rising - topping 10 per cent in October - Obama's fellow Democrats in Congress are considering additional measures to shore up the economy in the coming months.
Obama's comments came at the end of his trip to China, the largest foreign holder of US debt, which has also voiced concern about US spending levels.
