Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has tried to ease British irritation over comments he made regarding Prime Minister Gordon Brown's strategy for fighting the economic crisis, Sarkozy's office said.

"The Elysee Palace has contacted Downing Street to assure Prime Minister Brown that President Sarkozy deplored the manner in which his comments on the British economy were reported in Britain," Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

In a nationally televised interview last Thursday, Sarkozy had criticized Brown's decision to lower British value-added tax (VAT), calling it a "mistake" and declaring that it had "absolutely not worked."

In a first reaction to Sarkozy's comments, the British government insisted that the temporary cut in VAT to 15 per cent, introduced in December and due to last until the end of 2009, had already boosted demand and decreased inflationary pressures.

"France and Britain are going in the same direction" regarding the economic crisis, Tuesday's French statement read. "President Sarkozy confirmed how much he wanted to continue to work closely with Prime Minister Brown in the months and years to come." (dpa)