Oxford, MS 4/7/2011 (Penny PayDay) -- The US president and senior legislators have said progress was made in urgent budget talks late on Wednesday and that negotiators will work through the night to try to avert a government shutdown.Barack Obama met John Boehner, the Republican House of Representatives speaker, and Harry Reid, the Democratic senate majority leader, on Wednesday to try to reach a deal by Friday midnight, when a temporary government funding bill is set to expire.
Federal agencies' day-to-day operations through the end of the budget year are at stake and a government shutdown - the first in 15 years - would devastate an economy still recovering from the worst recession since the 1930s.
Obama urged both parties to compromise and said failure to reach agreement would hurt the economy just as it was gaining momentum.
He said differences remained despite the progress in Wednesday's meeting.
"It's going to require a sufficient sense of urgency to complete a deal and get it passed and avert a shutdown," Obama said.
He said the meeting with the legislators helped narrow outstanding issues.
"I thought the meetings were frank, they were constructive and what they did was narrow the issues and clarify the issues that are still outstanding," Obama.
After huge wins in last year's House elections gave them control of the lower chamber, Republicans have vowed to cut spending and bring the US deficit under control.
Emerging from the 90-minute Oval Office meeting, Boehner and Reid appeared jointly before reporters and vowed to keep working towards a deal, although they made clear that there were still deep divisions.
Republicans and Democrats have struggled to break a deadlock over measures to continue funding for government operations and keep more than 800,000 workers in their jobs past Friday's deadline.
Reid said the White House meeting was "very honest".
"I have confidence we can get this done. We're not there yet, but hope lies eternal," he said.
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