The Scottish Government has been branded “arrogant” after refusing to disclose whether it will ask for an opinion on the country’s credit rating in the event of independence.
Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont used a parliamentary question to ask if ministers would be seeking draft advice on the matter from a credit rating agency and, if so, when.
In a written answer, finance secretary John Swinney did not address either point, but said ministers were confident an independent Scotland would be “attractive to lenders”.
He said: “Given our position of relative financial strength we have every confidence in securing a top credit rating for an independent Scotland almost two-thirds of countries with an AAA rating are small countries with a population of less than 10 million.
“SG (Scottish Government) believes the macro-economic framework set out by the Fiscal Commission Working Group would provide a stable basis for Scotland and the UK in the best interests of both, and, combined with Scotland’s economic strengths and natural resources, and the responsible record of the Scottish Government, would make an independent Scotland attractive to lenders.”
Mr Lamont said: “Somewhere within this arrogant rambling there’s an admission that the SNP hasn’t bothered checking what a separate Scotland’s credit rating would be.
“That’s another key issue which has either slipped Alex Salmond’s mind, or he’s too frightened to discover what the answer might be.”
When asked by The Courier if an opinion had been sought, a Scottish Government spokeswoman issued a statement almost identical to Mr Swinney’s written answer.
It said: “An independent Scotland will have a credit rating, just like any other country. Given our position of relative financial strength we have every confidence in securing a top credit rating for an independent Scotland.
“Almost two thirds of countries with an AAA rating are small countries with a population of less than 10 million.”