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Brown sees stable pound in medium term

LONDON: Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said on Sunday he expected sterling to be "stable and competitive" in the medium term.

In an interview with BBC television's Breakfast with Frost, Brown said it would be foolish for a chancellor to try to predict when the pound would weaken.

"But I do believe in the medium term we will have a stable and competitive pound," he said.

"If the European economy becomes stronger, as it is becoming stronger, then of course over the medium term we will have what we want, which is a stable and competitive pound."

Brown said he shared the concerns of British exporters and manufacturers about the strength of sterling.

But he said trying to devalue the pound would threaten Britain's economic stability.

"When I talk to manufacturers they understand this central point. If you took action to artificially bring down your currency, then what you do is put at risk the whole stability of the economy and make possible something we don't want to see in our country again -- the return to boom and bust."

His comments echoed remarks by Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said last week an artificial devaluation would be a big mistake.-Reuters