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Figures show 0.2 per cent rise in GDP
25/07/2007
John Swinney today said that Scotland's growth rate had not been good enough, as new GDP figures revealed that the country lags behind the rest of the UK.
The Cabinet Secretary was commenting on the latest GDP figures that cover the period up to the end of the first quarter of 2007 and show that:
- Scottish GDP rose by 2.4 per cent annually and grew by 0.2 per cent over the first quarter of 2007
- While UK GDP rose by 3.0 per cent over the year and by 0.7 per cent over the first quarter
Mr Swinney said:
"Scotland has suffered from being a low growth economy for a generation, and our past growth performance is simply not good enough. Although sectors such as financial services continue to do well, the economy as a whole is underperforming.
"Scotland lags behind the UK as a whole, which in turn lags behind many successful small European nations. The latest increase in GDP may have been deemed satisfactory in the past, but this Government is determined to do better and our ambitions are greater.
"We have set a target to match UK growth by 2011, and these figures demonstrate the scale of the challenge we face.
"Through policies such as reducing and removing business rates and reforming and refocusing our enterprise networks we will begin to end years of underachievement.
"And with the fuller powers of independence, we can do better still. We can give Scotland a powerful competitive edge through lower corporate tax - as has been done so successfully in Ireland and elsewhere - and achieve our aim of increased, sustainable economic growth."