Washington  - US President Barack Obama on Monday promised to cut the federal budget deficit more than half by the end of his four- year term in office, despite a deepening recession that has forced the government to spend record amounts of money.

Obama, who took office in January, inherited a 2008 budget deficit of 1.3 trillion dollars. That figure is expected to top 2 trillion dollars - more than 10 per cent of US gross domestic product - in 2009 as the country confronts a massive economic crisis.

"We cannot and will not sustain deficits like these without end," Obama said in opening a so-called Fiscal Responsibility Summit at the White House, which brings together politicians, economists and business leaders.

Obama will unveil the details of his 2010 budget and beyond in a speech before a joint session of Congress Tuesday night and in a written outline to legislators on Thursday.

The administration has promised to cut wasteful government programmes and roll back tax cuts for the wealthy that were enacted under former president George W Bush.

Obama's pledge will also require him to rein in spiralling health care and retirement costs that have frustrated passed administrations.

At the same time, Obama last week signed an unprecedented 787- billion-dollar economic stimulus package to help jump-start the flagging US economy. That follows a separate 700-billion-dollar financial bail-out last October to shore up the nation's struggling banks.

Obama acknowledged his administration will be forced to increase the deficit in the "short term" in a bid to stabilize the economy.

But "I refuse to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay," Obama said. (dpa)