News & Events

News & Events

  • Shona Robison now has more pieces of the budget puzzle

    Article by our chair Professor Graeme Roy, first published in The Times on 22 November 2023. Although many of the Chancellor’s announcements apply across the entire UK, his ‘Autumn Statement for Growth’ also sets the scene for the Scottish Budget in less than four weeks’ time. The Deputy First Minister will be thinking about how…

  • Scots population shifts and the future of public services

    Article by our chair Professor Graeme Roy, first published in the Herald on 9 October 2023.

  • Significant progress on the economy is still required

    Article by our chair Professor Graeme Roy, first published in The Herald on 11 September 2023.

  • Scottish Fiscal Commission publishes latest Forecast Evaluation Report

    An evaluation of our December 2021 economy, devolved taxes and social security forecasts which were used to set the 2022-23 Scottish Budget.

  • Despite economic positivity inflation remains too high

    Article by our Chair Professor Graeme Roy, first published in The Herald on 12 June 2023 Last month, at the Scottish Fiscal Commission, we published our latest forecasts covering the Scottish economy, devolved tax revenues and social security spending. While the outlook is largely unchanged since our last forecasts in December, we now have some…

  • Economic outlook improves slightly but living standards still falling

    The Scottish Fiscal Commission today said that the five-year funding outlook for the Scottish Government has remained broadly unchanged since its forecasts in December last year. The Commission now forecasts that the economy will remain largely flat this year rather than fall into the shallow recession predicted in December. Despite this marginal improvement in the…

  • Scotland not alone but fiscal sustainability questions cannot be ignored

    Article by our Chair Professor Graeme Roy, first published in The Herald on 10 April 2023 As trailed in one of my earlier articles, the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) has just published Scotland’s first Fiscal Sustainability Report. It highlights how, with rising costs of healthcare coupled with an increase in the average age of our…

  • Fiscal Sustainability Report shows tough decisions for Scottish Government

    22 March 2023 The Scottish Fiscal Commission today said that the Scottish Government will face long-term challenges in funding the delivery of public services. Their Fiscal Sustainability Report shows that over the next 50 years spending on public services will increase because of pressures from rising costs of delivery and an ageing population. Spending on…

  • Fiscal pressures not unique to Scotland but plan needed

    This article by our chair Professor Graeme Roy was published in The Herald newspaper on 13 March 2023. Later this month at the Scottish Fiscal Commission, we’ll publish Scotland’s first fiscal sustainability report (FSR). An FSR is designed to help policymakers identify key long-term pressures and opportunities facing the economy and the public finances. In turn,…

  • Higher Prices Puts Pressure on Households

    The Scottish Fiscal Commission today said the purchasing power of household incomes is anticipated to fall by the largest amount since Scottish records began in 1998. Inflation will peak at around 11 per cent by the end of this year and is outstripping pay settlements. Interest rates have risen to levels not seen since before…