THE North-East economy is in a strong position to fare well in the coming months.

That was the encouraging message from economic advisor Roger Bootle at the second annual Deloitte and Touche Business Dinner in Newcastle.

The specialist advisor to the House of Commons Treasury Committee said the UK economy continued to perform impressively.

This was despite a strange economic balance which amounted to a simultaneous boom and bust, with retail sales growing at six per cent year on year and manufacturing contracting at the same rate.

He predicted that the UK economy as a whole would continue to do well thanks to low interest rates, a strong housing market and low tax rises.

Mr Bootle, a former chief economist at HSBC, said the North-East was well placed to prosper in the current economic climate, thanks to its high levels of consumer spending.

Further afield, Mr Bootle said Germany would continue to suffer the consequences of having entered the euro at an inflated level and would hae-morrhage business from its all-important manufacturing sector to the more competitive Asia and Eastern Europe.

He concluded that the prospects for a strong euro looked bleak and the possibility of the UK joining the euro were remote.