Obama prods G20 on currency, financial reform

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama urged G20 countries to accelerate financial reform and strengthen public finances in a letter released on Friday ahead of the group's meeting in Toronto.

In an apparent nod toward China, Obama also stressed the importance of market-determined exchange rates to global economic strength. "The signals that flexible exchange rates send are necessary to support a strong and balanced global economy," he wrote in the letter released by the White House.