Residents of Scotland will be financially better off if they reject independence and opt to stay in the UK, the British government says, amid competing claims by each side of the debate.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander claimed that every man, child and woman would be STG1400 ($A2,500) better off if voters opt for 'no' in the September 18 referendum.
Alexander argued that breaking the union would mean lower tax revenues in Scotland and increased public spending, in what he called the "UK dividend".
But Scotland's pro-independence First Minister Alex Salmond said the UK Treasury's claims had been "blown to smithereens" after academics claimed their data had been misinterpreted.
Alexander was speaking in Edinburgh after the UK Treasury published a report assessing the fiscal position of an independent Scotland over the period from 2016 to 2035-36.
Alexander said an independent Scotland could face higher interest payments on government debts, while also grappling with an ageing population and declining oil revenues from the North Sea fields.
"Today we have shown that, by staying together, Scotland's future will be safer, with stronger finances and a more progressive society," he said.
"Because as a United Kingdom we can pool resources and share risks; it means a UK dividend of STG1400 a year for every man, woman and child in Scotland.
"That dividend is our share of a more prosperous future. It is the money that will pay for better public services and a fairer society."
But Salmond's administration paints a different picture in a rival paper, claiming Scotland could be STG5 billion a year better off post-independence, without having to raise taxes.
He said Alexander had offered a "bogus bonus" after Professor Patrick Dunleavy, of the London School of Economics, told the Financial Times the UK Treasury's figures were "bizarrely inaccurate".
In contrast, the Scottish government estimates that an increase of 0.3 percentage points in the long-term productivity growth rate under independence could raise an additional STG2.4 billion a year in revenues by 2029/30.
Additionally, if the employment rate in Scotland rose by 3.3 percentage points - taking it to the level of the five best-performing countries in the developed world - it could provide additional revenues of STG1.3 billion a year, the Scottish government claims.
An opinion poll for Channel Four TV this month showed 51 per cent of people questioned were planning to vote 'No', with 37 per cent in favour of independence and 12 per cent undecided.
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