White House calls for 'balanced' deal on budget

The White House called Saturday for a "balanced" deal on budget cuts after a top Republic said he had abandoned efforts for a comprehensive deal that would allow a hike in the US debt ceiling.

"We need a balanced approach that asks the very wealthiest and special interests to pay their fair share as well, and we believe the American people agree," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said.

"Both parties have made real progress thus far, and to back off now will not only fail to solve our fiscal challenge, it will confirm the cynicism people have about politics in Washington.

"The president believes that now is the moment to rise above that cynicism and show the American people that we can still do big things."

The comments came as the House of Representatives speaker John Boehner said he was abandoning efforts to reach a larger, comprehensive debt reduction deal with the White House.

Boehner said in a statement that his party would scale back the discussions and "focus on producing a smaller measure" of cuts that would offset any limit in the US debt increase, to avert a default.

"Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes. I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure," the speaker added.