Dutch bank ABN Amro does not see eye to eye with Gordon Brown, the UK chancellor. Having put out an exceptionally bearish growth forecast for the UK ahead of Brown's pre-budget statement last week, the bank ignored the chancellor's optimism and stuck defiantly to its own line.
Its analysts chose their words carefully, but the message was clear: Brown and his gang at the Treasury have got their numbers wrong. "The Treasury appears to be ignoring all the signs that the world and UK economies are already slowing. They expect robust global and domestic growth in the next few quarters." ABN's forecast? "We expect a weaker global economy than the chancellor and expect UK house prices to fall and unemployment to rise." Right then. Brown has a history of winning his statistical spats with the "teenage scribblers". Over to you, Gordonâ¦
