LONDON, Feb 2: Alan Greenspan, who this week ended his 18-year reign as chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has agreed to be an honorary adviser to Britain’s finance minister Gordon Brown, the Treasury announced here on Wednesday.

Mr Greenspan, 79, would immediately begin advising Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Brown on issues “relating to global economic change”, the Treasury said in a statement.

A Treasury spokesman said that Mr Greenspan would meet Mr Brown “a number of times each year” and have regular contact with the British finance minister by email and telephone. Mr Greenspan would be paid only expenses for his advice.

Mr Brown said he was “delighted” that Mr Greenspan had agreed to the invitation. “His advice on issues relating to global economic change will be much appreciated,” added Mr Brown, who has been in charge of Britain’s finances since the Labour Party’s re-election victory in 1997.

In a recent interview Mr Brown, widely expected to one day replace Tony Blair as Britain’s prime minister, described Mr Greenspan as “not only one of the world’s most outstanding economic policymakers but the greatest economist of his generation”.

Mr Greenspan has retired as Fed chairman after steering the US economy through an extraordinary boom punctuated by recession and financial crises.

His final act was to oversee the raising of US interest rates by a quarter-point to 4.50 per cent on Tuesday, before handing over to top White House economic adviser Ben Bernanke.—AFP