Tuesday, 10 April 2012

Will Scotland join the Euro?


The SNP are at sixes and sevens over their economic policy. That's not surprising when you consider that Mr Salmond was an economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Initially they promissed that we would join the Euro after independence. Now they want to delay that and stay with Sterling for a while. This dithering is not good for businesses; which need stability. In reality, an independent Scotland would have little choice. If we want to join the European Union, we will probably have to accept the Euro as our currency.

Approximately 60% of Scottish exports go the rest of the United Kingdom. If we have a different currency from our main customers it will impede trade. Many Scots also work for British organisations;and it would be complicated to get paid in a foreign currency.

Even if Scotland were able to keep Sterling as its currency, there would be problems. Britain would have to impose strict supervision over our spending and borrowing so thay we didn't damage the currency. The Bank of England would be unlikely to bail out Scotland if we got into financial difficulties.

In either of the above currency scenarios, we would be less independent than we are today.

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