Scotland's choices in January budget will determine our economic future |
November was a month of emotional whiplash for Scotland. We had barely finished celebrating our first World Cup qualification in nearly 30 years when attention turned back to politics and the Chancellor’s Budget.
For the second time in two weeks, Scotland’s business community was on tenterhooks. As it turned out, the danger did not lie in what the Budget did, but in what it failed to do.
After months of speculation on tax increases, firms feared already-tight margins would be squeezed further. When the moment came, the Budget fell flat: neither easing long-standing cost pressures, nor making them markedly worse.
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The Chancellor made some welcome gestures to business. With exporting one of the fastest routes to growth, reforms to the customs treatment of low-value imports are positive, while cutting red tape should help more SMEs trade internationally.
Regional development is critical for our business communities and the funding earmarked for Inchgreen, Grangemouth, and Kirkcaldy is a boost for place-based growth.
There has been a modest glimmer of hope for borrowers in the weeks since the Budget, with the latest interest rate cuts offering some limited relief that will help to stabilise confidence after a prolonged period of tight........