Why Scotland's proposed government bonds are a terrible idea

Man wearing kilt in Scotland playing bagpipes

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Scottish government has announced plans to sell up to £1.5 billion of its own debt over the next five years, the first time the country has issued its own bonds in more than three centuries. The “kilts”, as they will inevitably be known in a play on the British “gilts”, will help finance the devolved administration. The plans took a step forward last week when two of the major agencies, Moody’s and S&P, gave the planned issue an investment-grade rating. The Scottish National Party plans to press ahead, in part to give it more money to play with, but also, perhaps more importantly, to demonstrate that Scotland can flourish on its own and have credibility in the markets.

The trouble is, it is not likely to work out that way. The ratings agencies were quite clear that they were grading Scotland on the basis that it was still part of the United Kingdom, and the debt backed by the Bank of England and the Treasury in London. If Scotland were an independent country it would surely be a very different story.

To start with, Scotland runs a huge budget deficit. For 2024-2025 it rose from £21 billion to £26 billion. That is 11% of GDP, compared with 5.1% for the UK as a whole. If you took out oil, which might not all go to Scotland in a separation agreement with the rest of the UK, it would rise to a terrifying 14%. The rise was largely on account of lower revenues from North Sea oil and gas, but the SNP is fiercely opposed to the oil industry, and wants to close it down as quickly as possible, so the deficit would be a lot worse if the country became independent. Its deficit would rank as one of the highest in the developed world. It is behind Timor-Leste, at 48% of GDP, and Ukraine at 18%, if above Egypt and Zimbabwe. It is hard to believe that borrowing on that scale would be sustainable for very long.

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Next, Scotland has a political class that is addicted to spending. Ever since the devolved government was created at the start of the century the one thing it has proved very good at is giving away free stuff. Higher education does not have to be paid for, and neither do prescriptions, or bus travel if you are under 22 or over 60. It makes politicians sound generous. Some of that is paid for with higher income-tax rates in Scotland than in the rest of the country, but most of it comes from subsidies from London. Public spending is already more than £2,000 per person higher in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, but the budget deficit is still huge. It is hard to see any government in Edinburgh changing that.

It's hard to think of anything worse than Scotland's proposed 'kilts'

Finally, Scotland may break away from the UK at some stage, and, if it does so, it may have to issue its own currency. The SNP has always maintained that it can carry on using the pound after independence, if it ever happens, and the Bank of England will remain the ultimate guarantor of its debts. But the government in Westminster has never agreed to it and neither has the Bank. It is hard to see why they ever would. Anyone holding a “kilt” has to reckon with the possibility that Scotland may have to issue its own currency at some stage and that it will sharply devalue against the pound. Measured in sterling, or indeed dollars or euros, they will face huge losses on their holdings.

In reality, it is hard to think of a worse investment. A market in “kilts” will make that painfully clear almost as soon as it is launched. It might start out trading at the same price as UK-issued gilts, but it will very quickly start to deviate from that. If a second referendum on independence is mooted, prices will plunge if there are polls showing a “yes” vote, which paradoxically, will make that outcome far less likely.

If there is a prospect of a vote being held, prices will start to sink as investors weigh the possibility that it might be a Treasury in Edinburgh rather than London that has to pay them back. Scottish politicians pushing for “kilts” might imagine it will strengthen the case for independence and bolster their financial credibility. More likely is that it will backfire spectacularly, making it clear that an independent Scotland would struggle to pay its bills.

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Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years.