Business groups welcome oil boost but seek deficit answers

Business leaders have welcomed a rise in oil revenues but stressed the need to improve Scotland’s deficit.

Pro-union organisations insisted the latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) statistics “clearly demonstrate the financial benefit of being part of the UK” at a time of economic uncertainty.

The figures show Scotland’s finances were boosted by an increase in Scottish North Sea revenue, up from £266 million in 2016-17 to £1,327m in 2017-18.

Tracy Black, CBI Scotland director, said: “The Scottish GERS figures show that public finances are continuing to move in the right direction.

“An uptick in oil revenues has had a positive effect, due to higher oil prices, however Scotland still has room to improve its fiscal deficit compared with the UK as a whole.

“Only by supporting the private sector to grow the Scottish economy can we deliver the sustainable public services we all want for Scotland.”

Pro-union groups also highlighted the volatility of the oil industry.

Struan Stevenson, chief executive of Scottish Business UK, said: “While the figures do show some improvement in Scotland’s finances thanks to a small recovery in North Sea oil, it’s increasingly clear this one commodity cannot be relied upon to deliver stable returns each year.”