US President Barack Obama on Saturday called on senators to complete passage of the $827bn stimulus package that was struck behind close doors late on Friday. US Senate Democrats agreed to cut their hopes for a larger economic stimulus package and support a compromise that would give Mr Obama an important but narrow victory.

In his weekly radio and YouTube address to the nation, Mr Obama said he was pleased that the bipartisan compromise, which may only result in the switched votes of three Republican senators, out of a total of 41, ended a turbulent week on a ”positive note”.