ROANOKE, Virginia (AP) — Mitt Romney said yesterday that President Barack Obama doesn't have a clue about how business works. The Obama campaign said Romney doesn't know what he's talking about.

The Republican presidential nominee also criticised Obama for suggesting the creation of a secretary of business.

“We don't need a secretary of business to understand business. We need a president who understands business,” Romney said during a visit to Integrity Windows, which is owned by a family Obama praised during his convention speech.

Obama has floated the idea of the new post as a way to consolidate nine agencies that now deal with business matters and to eliminate bureaucracy. Obama has called it a “one-stop shop” for business owners.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said “the idea that Mitt Romney would help businesses grow as president doesn't match his record or his policies”.

She said: “Romney can lurch from false attack to false attack in the final days of this campaign” but the public understands Obama is the only candidate with “a concrete plan to move our country forward, grow our economy and strengthen the middle class”.