US President Barack Obama is promising to cut his country's budget deficit by half by the end of his first term.

But analysts say this will be no easy task, since the government's current deficit level has soared to an all-time high and US economic figures remain grim.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) speaks next to Vice President Joseph Biden at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in the East Room of the White House in Washington February 20, 2009.[Xinhua]

Obama began his second month in office with a meeting with state governors on Monday morning and a White House economic summit in the afternoon.

Obama invited lawmakers, business figures and academics to the summit to address the nation's future financial health. And he stressed that the soaring deficit must be curbed.

Barack Obama, US President, said, "I'm pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office. This will not be easy. It will require us to make difficult decisions and face challenges we've long neglected, but I refuse to leave our children with a debt that we cannot repay. And that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control."

The Treasury Department reported earlier this month that the US federal budget deficit reached 569 billion dollars in the first four months of the current fiscal year. This is the highest on record for this period.

And the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that the budget deficit will hit an all-time high of 1.2 trillion dollars by the end of the current fiscal year on September 30th.

Obama also declared that his administration would release 15 billion dollars of economic stimulus payments to help governors meet health care payments to poor Americans.

He said the money will come from the newly passed stimulus programme and will begin reaching the states by Wednesday.

To ensure accountability and transparency in how the governors spend the stimulus funds, Obama has set up a new at-large board to monitor the spending. Vice President Joe Biden will also be given a coordinating role.

But despite these moves, the country's economic figures remain gloomy.

Both the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard and Poor's 500 index tumbled to their lowest close in nearly 12 years.

All the major indexes slid more than 3 percent. The Dow is just over 100 points from 7,000.

Graphics:

US Federal Budget Deficit:

First 4 months of the current fiscal year: US$569 bln

Source: The Treasury Department

US Federal Budget Deficit:

By the end of September: US$1.2 trillion

Projected by Congressional Budget Office

(CCTV February 24, 2009)