British Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr Gordon Brown criticised anti-capitalist protesters while expressing "cautious optimism" over the state of the British economy, in an interview published today.
Mr Brown said in an interview with
The Observer
that protests against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank affected the extent to which the two organisations could assist developing nations.
"...Therefore the aim of the anti-globalisation to diminish the IMF or World Bank is actually completely wrong," Mr Brown said, according to the Observer.
He added that while Britain was not wholly immune from an economic slowdown in the US, he felt the economy was well-placed to cope with economic recession, helped by low inflation rates.
"I think we are better placed through having low inflation, our fiscal position in order, and through avoiding some of the problems we had in the late Eighties," Mr Brown said.
"I'm cautiously optimistic about the economy," Mr Brown added.