Scottish Government bonds programme: outline business case summary

Footnotes

1 The Business Case was approved by the Bonds Project Board, which is chaired by Director General Exchequer, Strategy and Performance. The board also includes the Chief Financial Officer and Director General Economy.

2 The Outline Business Case (OBC) has been developed in conjunction with EY who are engaged by the SG as the Financial Advisor for the Scottish Government’s Bond Programme.

3 Investor Panel: Mobilising international capital to finance the transition to Net Zero - gov.scot

4 Scottish Government capital borrowing and bonds: memorandum - gov.scot

5 For further discussion, see the supporting documents Supporting documents - Investing with Purpose: global capital investment plan - gov.scot and Scotland's productivity gap with international countries: research - gov.scot

6 This is covered in more detail in Scotland’s Inward Investment Plan: Shaping Scotland’s Economy

7 ibid

8 Credit spread assumptions at the current stage of business case development are, by necessity, more prudent than those the Scottish Government would aim to secure at issuance. Publishing any indicative credit spread prior to an inaugural issuance risks compromising the final pricing that could be achieved. For these reasons, the Scottish Government will not publicly comment on the potential spread of the first bond issuance.

9 Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) is the ratio of the present value of benefits to the present value of costs. It provides a measure of the benefits relative to costs.

10 Fiscal framework outturn report: 2025 - gov.scot

11 Note 1: The 2023 Fiscal Framework Agreement states that from 2023-24 onwards, the statutory limit on borrowing for capital expenditure will be increased to and maintained at £3bn in 2023-24 prices. The annual limit on the amount of borrowing for capital expenditure will also be increased. From 2023-24 onwards, it will now be maintained at £450m a year in 2023-24 prices. Both limits will be uprated annually. These changes may impact on borrowing decisions, with decisions on borrowing to be set out at the next fiscal event.