Scottish Economy - Page 2 of 43 - Fraser of Allander Institute Blog

Medium Term Financial Strategy: where’s the medium-term focus or strategy?

Last week, the Scottish Government published its 2^nd Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

The purpose of the MTFS, as set out by the Parliament’s Budget Process Review Group, was to ‘provide a means of focussing on the longer term sustainability of Scotland’s public finances’.

This is clearly a positive and the government should be commended for publishing the MTFS.

However, those that had been hoping that this year’s MTFS would build upon last year’s publication and provide a robust overview of the government’s fiscal strategy will be disappointed.

To fair, there are a lot of new helpful elements of information like the policies and principles on borrowing and reserves and the new detail on infrastructure investment funding.

But to be fully effective, whatever administration is in office, future MTFSs will need much more detail on future plans as well as appropriate assessments of risks & opportunities.

Scottish Fiscal Commission: Latest Forecasts

Today the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFCs) released their latest set of economic and fiscal forecasts.

You can read the full document here.

In this blog we give a quick tour of the latest forecasts and some of the additional insights.

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What is the case for increasing council tax rates in Scotland?

This blog shows that council tax rates are now markedly lower in Scotland than in England and Wales. Increasing council tax in Scotland to match rates in Wales (or England) would raise substantial revenues, but would have adverse distributional implications. On balance, the case for more fundamental reform of property taxation would appear much stronger than the case for increasing rates within the existing system.

Differences in income tax policy between Scotland and rUK have been the subject of heated debate. There has been relatively little attention paid to differences in council tax policy in Scotland compared to England and Wales. But in some ways, the differences in council tax policy are more pronounced than they are for income tax.Continue reading

Where next on inclusive growth? 6 steps to build upon…

It’s hard to talk about economic policy in Scotland without the phrase ‘inclusive growth’ popping up.

It is, not just at the core of Scottish Government activity, but the central narrative for local authorities, agencies and public bodies across Scotland.

At an event last week, some people asked for our take, so in this slightly longer than usual blog, we set out some thoughts on the inclusive growth agenda, the evidence, and where the debate might go next.

VAT assignment: paused for now, but will it be pulled for good?

The Scottish Government announced last week that the assignment of Scottish VAT revenues to the Scottish budget is likely to be delayed – possibly until after the fiscal framework review in 2022. Giving evidence to the Finance and Constitution Committee last week, Derek MacKay said: ‘I am becoming increasingly minded to postpone VAT assignment until VAT powers can be further discussed at the time of the fiscal framework review’.Continue reading