A hard struggle on economic scenarios that could emerge after Scottish independence continues to go on between the UK and Scottish governments. After UK Chancellor George Osborne had said that "if Scotland walks away from the UK, it walks away from the UK pound", Scottish Finance Minister John Swinney yesterday replied that the final outcome of that scenario would be the UK assuming its current entire debt, with Scotland sharing no part of it.

According to Swinney, Scotland would be freed to assume any part of a UK debt estimated bt the Minister to be at 130 billion pounds ( 157,7 billion euros), which would be wholly assumed by the remainder of the UK (i. e. England, Wales and Northern Ireland). In addition, and always according to Swinney, another effect of this would be that debt servicing costs of the remaining UK would rise as well, which "would be the equivalent of increasing income tax by one pence in 2016-17".

Similarly, pro-independence official campaign Yes Scotland has pointed out that an independent Scotland "would not need Westminster's permission to continue using the pound". Indeed, some countries use a currency that is not theirs without formal permission: Montenegro's use of the euro is an example of this.

The pro-independence campaign insists that the best scenario for everyone would be a "currency union" between Scotland and the United Kingdom, with "agreed fiscal rules". They say that the currency union would avoid costs for exporting companies on both sides of the border and would also help in keeping a single labor market.

Giving up sovereignty right after having won it again

But things are seen quite in a different way from London. Last month, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned that a currency union would imply that an independent Scotland would need to relinquish again a party of its newly acquired sovereignty and reach an agreement with the UnK on banking, taxation and spending. According to Carney, this would include the possibility that Scotland was bailed by the UK Treasury if needed. In the event that no agreement was reached, Carney said, Scotland would be exposed to risks and instabilities similar to those that have happened in the eurozone.