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Finance Secretary John Swinney has responded to the Treasury's announcement of public spending cuts in the UK of more than £6 billion - including £332 million in Scotland.
He said that further cuts in public spending imposed by the UK Government on Scotland would 'run the risk this year of plunging the Scottish economy back into recession'.
Mr Swinney said:
"At a time when economic recovery is extremely fragile, the spending cuts outlined by the Treasury risk undermining recovery and damaging our comprehensive work to support the Scottish economy. These further spending cuts are on top of a £500 million reduction imposed on this year's Scottish finances in the then Chancellor's 2009 Budget.
"In the last 18 months, accelerated public expenditure has been used to bring forward work on vital infrastructure projects such as affordable housing and public transport - helping to sustain thousands of Scottish jobs in the process. That's why, in what remains an uncertain climate, it is vital that we maintain investment in Scotland's economy and frontline public services.
"The Scottish Government will prioritise economic recovery. That is why we are planning to defer these further cuts until the following year, in order that we can entrench economic recovery.
"We are under no illusions about the scale of challenges that lie in the years ahead, and indeed have already published figures which quantify this. That's why we are already delivering better value from our fixed budget in order to maximise investment in economic recovery and the high quality services that people expect and deserve.
"Through our efficient government programme, we are on track to deliver our target saving of six per cent in 2010-11, and have already exceeded the £534 million target for 2008-09 by over £300 million.
"On staffing, we introduced a cap on total staff numbers in post, while we are reducing the number of public bodies by 25 per cent and reducing spending on travel and other operational costs.
"At all times, our priority is to make decisions in the best interests of Scotland - and we will do all we can to ensure those interests are reflected in next month's UK budget and subsequent Spending Review.
"These issues reinforce the need for the Scottish Government and Parliament to gain full control of tax and spending with fiscal responsibility, so that we can develop a growth strategy for Scotland and boost government revenues."
Actions taken by the Scottish Government to deliver efficiencies include:
* A 25 per cent reduction in the number of national devolved public bodies (from 199 to 120) by April 2011. This will deliver savings of £123 million over the period to 2013 and, with the provisions in the Public Services Reform Bill, will deliver annual recurring savings of £38 million per annum thereafter
* Reducing the number of public bodies from a baseline of 199 to 162
* The publication of targets that aim to achieve in-year savings across the public sector of £534 million in 2008-09, £1,069 million in 2009-10 and £1,603 million in 2010-11. The 2008-09 outturn report, published in November 2009, confirmed savings of £839 million against the £534 million target
* Cutting central Administration costs by five per cent and the costs of central marketing by over 50 per cent in this year's Scottish Budget
* Reducing Scottish Government travel costs from over £5.9 million in 2008-09 to just over £4.9 million in 2009-10 - a reduction of almost £1 million - while in the six months to December 2009, the cost of air and rail travel fell by 24 per cent and 28 per cent respectively
* Audit Scotland's July 2009 report, 'Improving Public Sector Purchasing', identified savings of £327 million from the first two years of the procurement reform programme
* New national procurement contracts for the bulk-buying of gas and electricity are meeting over 98 per cent of public sector demand in Scotland, while delivering annual savings of around £10 million for electricity and £five million for gas
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/10144599.stm