Achi news desk-
During the election campaign, Mr Swinney has repeatedly referred to comments made by the IFS on Labor and the Conservatives.
Paul Johnson, of the think tank, said that the refusal to raise taxes and the commitment to bring down debt suggests “major spending cuts over the next five years.”
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Ahead of the 2021 Holyrood election, IFS director David Phillips said an independent Scotland would need to “cut its cloth to fit the size of its own purse”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Panorama program if he agreed with the analysis, Mr Swinney said: “No, I don’t accept that.”
“I think anyone who looks at my record, I was finance minister for Scotland for 10 years, and I ran a balanced budget.
“I knew how to manage money, I knew how to raise revenue, I knew how to make sure we lived within our means.
“Therefore, I accept that an independent Scotland would have to exercise financial stability and fiscal sustainability.
“All those considerations must be part of the discussion about independence, but it is the government’s duty to make sure that is done properly.
“Of course, part of what we’re grappling with today is the fact that Liz Truss’s UK government didn’t spectacularly do that and cause the kind of rise in mortgages that people are grappling with in Scotland today.
“What the Institute for Fiscal Studies says in their analysis of Scotland’s finances, they look at Scotland’s finances within the United Kingdom, but they also accept, and I think that it is important to accept this, namely that as an independent country we would have much more flexibility and maneuverability as a country to improve our economic performance.”
The First Minister claimed that GDP per head had risen faster in Scotland than the rest of the UK since 2007, while the productivity gap had closed “significantly, if not completely”.
He added: “What (being) an independent country allows us to do, and if you look at other small, European, independent countries, they have a stronger economic performance than the UK, and Scotland would be in a position to simulate that. .”
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During the interview, he was also pushed on the SNP’s position on new oil and gas licences.
The Scottish Government’s draft energy strategy includes a presumption against new drilling.
However, Mr Swinney and his deputy Kate Forbes have said the party was not against further licensing, but that they had to meet a “climate compatibility test.”
The First Minister told the BBC: “Well, what I’m saying is that there has to be an assessment to determine whether any license application is compatible with our climate obligations or not.
“So the Prime Minister has basically said that he will license 100 new projects. I think that is completely irresponsible.
“That’s the status of climate denial of the first order. So we must have a rational and considered process to look at each application to determine whether it can be sustained and is compatible with our climate objectives.”
Scottish Conservative candidate for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Andrew Bowie said: “John Swinney has finally let the cat out of the bag and admitted what we all knew – that the SNP has abandoned the North East.
“The SNP have tried to trick voters in the North East into thinking they are having second thoughts about opposing new oil and gas licences. But John Swinney has made it clear that nothing has changed by doubling down on his party’s anti-oil and gas stance, which threatens tens of thousands of jobs.
“The Scottish Conservatives are the only party that stands up for oil and gas workers and the vital role they play in sustaining the communities of the North East of England and our wider economy, energy security and the transition to net zero.
“Scots will also be disappointed to hear John Swinney cranking up his party’s obsession with independence, rather than focusing on the public’s real priorities – like fixing our ailing public services and creating good jobs.
“The only way to stop the SNP from pushing for another divisive referendum is to defeat them on July 4 and, in key seats across Scotland, that means voting for the Scottish Conservatives.”
