AMHERST, N.H. (AP) — Wasteful spender or champion of fiscal restraint: GOP presidential rivals Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani found a point of agreement Saturday, accusing one another of the former and claiming the latter.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, started the spat with a campaign press release detailing Giuliani's fiscal record as New York mayor headlined: ''Big City, Big Spender.''

He continued the criticism at a campaign appearance in Amherst, telling a friendly crowd of about 200 at a high school that while Giuliani is a friend and ''a good man,'' the former mayor nonetheless has ''a bit of a problem'' on spending and fiscal matters.

''He left a budget gap twice as big as the one he inherited: over $3 billion,'' Romney said. The shortfall did not include costs related to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the city, he said.

The nation ''needs someone in Washington who will rein in spending and say enough is enough — cutting back on the size of the government, keep it small,'' Romney said.

Guiliani said Romney is the one who had a poor fiscal record.

''The problem with Governor Romney is, he's in a glass house,'' Giuliani told The Associated Press in an interview on his campaign bus during a stop in Laconia.

''Governor Romney spent considerably more than I did,'' Giuliani said. ''Spending in New York City per capita was down when I was the mayor; spending under him was up. Governor Romney attempted to reduce taxes — he said he wasn't able to do it because there was a Democratic legislature. I had a Democratic legislature. I reduced taxes 23 times.''

''Governor Romney doesn't have results that he can point to as governor of Massachusetts so he then makes attacks like this,'' Guiliani continued. ''I don't think people pay attention very much because in every area where he criticizes, even if there's something to his criticism, his record is much worse than anybody else's.''