CAMP ROUND MEADOW, Maryland (Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of Eight major economies are making progress on addressing the two biggest threats to their economies - the euro zone crisis and very high oil prices, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Saturday.
After an early morning bilateral meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Cameron said he detected a "growing sense of urgency that action needs to be taken" on the euro zone crisis.
"We are addressing here the two biggest threats to all our economies and that is of course the euro zone crisis but also the very high oil prices that translate into high prices at the pumps and we are making progress on both," he told reporters.
There has been speculation that Obama will use an energy session at the G8 to seek support to tap emergency oil reserves before a European Union embargo of Iranian crude takes effect in July. Cameron gave no details of what action was planned.
On the euro zone crisis, Cameron said "what is required is a sense of urgency and then clear actions for strong banks, strong deficit reduction plans, strong governance and strong contingency plans for whatever might happen."
"On all those things I think there's a good sense of talks taking place and a good sense that action needs to follow," he said.
Cameron said German Chancellor Angela Merkel was "absolutely right" that every country needs to have in place strong plans for dealing with their deficits.
"Growth and austerity aren't alternatives," he said.
"You need a deficit reduction plan in order to get growth, in order to have the low interest rates that we have in Britain and are vital for the future of our economy," he said.
"But clearly, just as Britain benefits from a strong government with a strong deficit reduction plan and strong banks but also an independent monetary policy giving us low interest rates, helping to push demand in the economy, so the euro zone I believe needs that approach as well," he said.
(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Jackie Frank)