David Cameron's suggestion that the policy of printing money would stop under a Conservative government has been branded "wildly dangerous" by a former senior Bank of England official.
In his speech to the Conservative conference, Mr Cameron signalled he would move to end quantitative easing if the Tories win the General Election.
But David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank's monetary policy committee, described Mr Cameron's remarks as "bizarre" and said if put into action could push Britain into a "depression".
In his speech, Mr Cameron said: "If we spend more than we earn, we have to get the money from somewhere. Right now, the Government is simply printing it. Sometime soon that will have to stop, because in the end, printing money leads to inflation."
But Mr Blanchflower said: "This is the most wildly dangerous thing I have seen in 100 years of economic policy in Britain."
In a blow to the Tories' efforts to boost their economic credentials, Mr Blanchflower said the party showed "no understanding of economics", adding: "It could drive the economy into depression. This is the most bizarre set of economic policies I have ever heard."
Mr Cameron's comments came as the Bank of England decided to hold interest rates at their 0.5% record low and continue with its £175 billion quantitative easing programme.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had faced calls this week from businesses to boost the money supply further to at least £200 billion after worse than expected manufacturing figures.
Mr Cameron also drew fire from Chancellor Alistair Darling, who said the economy would collapse if the Government withdrew its support.
Mr Darling said: "If we stopped supporting the economy now it would crash. Every country in the world and just about every informed commentator is saying the same thing. The job is not finished. The Tories have been wrong at every turn."
