Scotland’s Financial Strength

As an amendment to motion S4M-06016 in the name of John Swinney (Scotland's Financial Strength), leave out from "welcomes" to end and insert "believes that analysing Scotland’s financial capability has to be conducted with a  longer-term focus than a single year of GERS figures; notes that the £10.573 billion from North Sea revenue in 2011-12 was one of the highest figures on record and is higher than most predictions for future years, including the projections published by the Office for Budget Responsibility in March 2013; notes that oil revenues are historically volatile; believes there is a strong likelihood that financial markets could assess risk less favourably in a separate Scotland and raise the cost of borrowing; notes that public spending per head is higher in Scotland than the United Kingdom average and believes the demographic issues faced by Scotland are more challenging than the United Kingdom as a whole."