LONDON, Nov 16: US Treasury Secretary John Snow said that Washington was committed to reducing its budget deficit, which he acknowledged was "too large", in an interview aired on Tuesday.

Mr Snow, who arrived in London late Monday from Dublin on the second leg of a four-nation EU visit, called on European and other nations to remove barriers to economic growth.

He said such barriers, as identified in a statement by the Group of Seven industrialized countries, included the nature of Germany's labour market, the state of Japan's banking system, and France's pension plans.

"Growth is important, and removing the barriers to growth is important. Each of us, in the G7, and in Europe, has an obligation to remove barriers that stand in the way of growth," Mr Snow told BBC radio.

But he denied that the United States was prescribing remedies.

"It isn't that I'm over here telling them what they need to do. We've collectively reached agreement on what needs to be done.

"In the United States we know that our deficit's too large. It's unwelcome. It needs to come down. The president is committed to bringing it down."

Mr Snow said the administration of US President George W. Bush was working to bring down the American budget deficit by growing the economy to boost fiscal revenues, and by sending to Congress "a budget that's the most stringent in terms of discretionary spending in decades."

Last month, Washington announced a record 2004 budget deficit of $413 billion. The trade deficit in August rose to $54 billion, the second largest ever, before narrowing to $51.6 billion in September.

On Friday Mr Snow will attend a meeting in Berlin of finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 20, which includes the G7 as well as large developing countries including China and Brazil.

The US delegation has been attempting to deflect criticism about the weak dollar and the big trade and budget deficits blamed for the currency's slide to record lows against the euro.

On Monday Mr Snow reiterated his well-worn phrases Monday about Washington's "strong dollar" policy and the need for open markets to set exchange rates.-AFP