As Presidents and protesters alike take leave of the capital, the immediate consensus is that the G20 summit has been something of a success. Many pundits had predicted that the summit would be a flop, but by the time President Obama wrapped up his press conference yesterday most were pleasantly surprised by the outcome and the stock markets surged in approval.

On closer inspection the unprecedented $5 trillion contribution to global fiscal stimulus turned out to be a little less impressive, the reassuringly large number being the result of pooling together all the participants' existing stimulus packages in addition to a refinancing deal for the IMF. Philip Stevens in the FT was keen to point out however that this represents a convergence between the nations that would have been unlikely without the focus of the summit.

The communiqué addressed issues beside the stimulus plan and whilst the suggestions were sound in principle some considered them irrelevant to our current plight. There were also some opaque spots in the document. As Jeremy Warner in The Independent noted there was no clarification of the role and responsibilities of the Financial Stability Forum or mention of a unified approach to treatment of toxic banking assets.

Addressing the issue of toxic assets was a concern shared by Nils Pratley in the Guardian, particularly with a view to recapitalisation of the US banking system. The G20's agreement to relax accounting rules should improve the picture for many banks but whether this will improve investors faith remains to be seen.

From a geopolitical standpoint at least the summit has been an undeniable success with nations being brought together in the light of adversity rather than being driven apart, as has so often happened in the past. There were also signs of green shoots with positive turns for the housing and banking sectors in the UK and oil rising to $52 per barrel.

The overall feeling as the summit drew to a close was summed up nicely by the Telegraph's Edmund Conway who says it represented "a genuine moment of unity across the rich world about the direction they mean to take in the future. Such achievements are nebulous; they make little immediate difference. But at a time of economic crisis, they matter".