Obama signed an executive order designed to ensure the recovering US economy is competitive and freed from suffocating red tape, while the health of Americans, public safety and the environment remains protected.

"Regulations do have costs; often as a country, we have to make tough decisions about whether those costs are necessary," Democrat Obama wrote on the conservative-leaning opinion page of the Wall Street Journal.

"But what is clear is that we can strike the right balance. We can make our economy stronger and more competitive, while meeting our fundamental responsibilities to one another," Obama wrote.

He said regulations should not hamper growth as he promised businesses, experts and ordinary citizens input in the rulemaking process.

Republicans welcomed the move, but hinted that the president, to whom they had dealt a stunning blow in mid-term elections last year, had co-opted some of their ideas -- while not going far enough.

"Today's executive order from President Obama shows that he heard the same message I did in the last election -- that Americans are sick and tired of Washington's excessive overreach and overspending," said Republican House majority leader Eric Cantor.

"While I applaud his efforts on this new executive order today, we must go further."

White House officials however denied the move was politically motivated, or an attempt to outflank newly empowered Republicans, saying the measure had been in the works for months.

"The notion that is it left or right or center frankly is less relevant than (whether what) we doing what is right for the American people" a senior official said on condition of anonymity.

Federal government rules and regulations are drawn up following the passage of legislation and are designed to implement new laws, and form part of the president's power as the executive.

The new initiative on rules, which often chafe at sectors of the economy, comes as Obama seeks to reach out to the business lobby in a bid to jumpstart job creation.

In the first two years of his administration, critics assailed Obama for being suspicious of big business -- a perception that may have hurt him in the eyes of crucial centrist voters in mid-term elections last year.

In the Journal article, Obama said that his government would seek more affordable and less intrusive ways to make rules, adding that he would also seek to cut down on "absurd and unnecessary paperwork" and put more government business online.

The president however promised that his administration would not shy away from addressing areas where new rules need to be made, such as safety regulations for infant formula and to stop infections in hospitals.

Some of Obama's critics however have accused him of overstepping his federal power via rules and regulations -- for instance after the Environmental Protection Agency acted to tighten fuel consumption standards.

Following the failure of Obama-backed global warming legislation in Congress, a confrontation is certain to erupt if the White House decides to use the power of government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

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