Scotland’s economic recovery has been achieved despite the policies of the UK Government, Finance Secretary John Swinney has claimed.
He accused them of prolonging the “economic difficulty and damage that has been faced by people in this country”.
While Mr Swinney blasted policies imposed by the coalition, Labour finance spokesman Iain Gray was critical of the Scottish Government.
The former Scottish Labour leader said many Scots would be “puzzled” by politicians talking about economic recovery “because in insecure, underpaid jobs with wages buying less every month this hardly feels like a recovery at all”.
Mr Swinney insisted, however: “The improvements in economic performance since devolution show what can be achieved, even with limited economic self-determination.
“Where we are able to exercise self-determination here in Scotland, where we are able to take decisions about the circumstances and conditions of the Scottish economy, we take wise and beneficial decisions that lead to sustained improvements in our long-term prospects.”
He added: “The current recovery in Scotland is taking place despite the policies of the UK Government, not because of them.
“The fundamental mistake the United Kingdom Government has made has been to prolong the economic difficulty and damage that has been faced by people in this country.
“The decision of the UK Government to reduce, for example, our capital budget in real terms by 27% over the period between 2010-11 and 2015-16 can only be described as one of the worst decisions, which undermines and impedes economic recovery in Scotland.”
Mr Gray highlighted the “fragility” of Scotland’s economic position.
“The truth is there are still almost 75,000 more Scots unemployed than there were when the Cabinet secretary took office,” he said.
“There is a long way to go yet. Too many of the jobs which have been created are insecure, temporary, part-time, zero-hour contracts or simply poorly paid.”