Barack Obama has slammed bonuses worth billions of dollars which have been handed out to bankers despite the global financial crisis.

The new US President (47) spoke out after it was revealed that Wall Street firms gave payouts worth more than $20bn last year, according to ABC.net.au.

Obama, who has been busy since his inauguration earlier this month, labelled the bonuses “shameful” and the “height of irresponsibility”.

Many Americans will be furious that the banks have agreed to such massive payments despite asking for billions in bailouts from Congress.

Obama said: “Part of what we are going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint and show some discipline and show some sense of responsibility.

“The American people understand that we have got a big hole that we have got to dig ourselves out of but they don’t like the idea that people are digging a bigger hole even as they are being asked to fill it up.”

Barack Obama has achieved his first victory as US President after Congress passed the $830 billion economic recovery plan.

US President Barack Obama has made his first speech to Congress, telling them that "the day of reckoning has arrived".