DEPUTY First Minister Kate Forbes has highlighted “difficult global trading conditions” as new figures showed Scotland’s economy shrank for the second consecutive month.
Scottish Government statistics revealed GDP was down by 0.2% in April, with this coming after a fall of 0.4% in March.
It had previously been reported that GDP was down by 0.2% for that month, but the latest figures showed the fall was larger than initially estimated.
However in the first three months of this year, the economy grew by 0.4%, the data showed.
Forbes said: “After a positive start to the year when we saw Scotland’s GDP grow 0.4% in the first quarter, these figures show that – like the rest of the UK – we have been impacted by ongoing challenges, including more difficult global trading conditions.”
She stressed the Scottish Government was “taking steps to transform Scotland’s economy by pursuing new investment, building export potential and supporting innovation”.
But the Deputy First Minister added: “We need decisive action from the UK Government to counter the damaging economic impacts of Brexit and tackle business uncertainty – including reversing its decision to increase employers’ national insurance contributions.”
However, LibDem economy spokesman Jamie Greene questioned whether the SNP government could be able to build a “solid economic foundation”.
He said: “There is obviously a lot of turmoil going on in the world right now but that is why building a solid economic foundation is so important.
“Scotland needs an economy that is robust, resilient and growing. But after years of SNP mismanagement it is clear the nationalists will never be able to deliver that.
“Put simply: they will never care as much about the Scottish economy and the public services it supports as they do about their real goal, which is driving a wedge between Scotland and the rest of the UK.”
