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The oil and gas industry will continue to play a key role in North East Scotland’s growth, Derek Leith, EY office managing partner for Aberdeen, has confirmed.
“2017 has been a tough year for Aberdeen but the forecast for 2018 and beyond indicates these challenges could ease off,” Leith said in an organization statement.
“The oil and gas industry will continue to play an integral role in the region’s growth and particular attention will be paid to how the Chancellor’s UK Budget announcement regarding oil and gas tax policy may stimulate a resurgence in industry activity,” he added.
On November 22, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, pledged to help the UK oil and gas industry by in the North Sea. The new policy will allow buyers to value assets on a similar basis to vendors, and is expected to encourage fresh investment in the North Sea.
The pace of economic growth in Scotland as a whole will match UK-wide performance in 2018, according to the recently published EY Scottish ITEM Club 2018 Forecast, which predicts that output growth for Scotland will reach 1.4 percent next year, up from the 0.8 percent expected for 2017 and equal to UK-wide GDP growth.
“Improved growth in the Scottish economy is to be welcomed, particularly as it is expected to match that of the UK as a whole in 2018,” Mark Gregory, EY’s chief economist, said in an organization statement.
“Unsurprisingly, Brexit is the biggest unknown factor in Scotland’s immediate economic future. If uncertainty around this issue eases and government can provide greater clarity for business we can hope to see an increase business confidence and investment,” he added.
