THE Northern Ireland Economic Council (NIEC) has criticised the British government for being harder on Northern Ireland in terms of public spending cuts than on the rest of the UK.

It has reported that public expenditure in the region is expected to fall by almost 2 per cent in 1997/98, compared with just 0.9 per cent in the UK as a whole. The annual fall of 0.9 per cent over the next three years is also higher than the UK's 0.7 per cent.

The NIEC warned that short term expediency may undermine long term economic growth in Northern Ireland, and has called on the British government to explain the differences, and "what other influences have affected the straightforward application of comparability in the 1996 public expenditure round".

The council's remarks follow criticism from one of Northern Ireland's leading businessmen that a planned £4 million sterling cut in the research budgets for Northern Ireland's universities would undermine the economy by deterring foreign investment and reduce the competitiveness of local companies.

Mr Alan McClure, the chairman of the Institute of Directors, said that the cuts were being implemented as research funding for British universities was being increased. He described them as "political vandalism".