Humza Yousaf has been mocked over claims independence could make the average Scottish household £10,200 better off.
The Scottish First Minister and SNP leader is set to hail the figure as the “prize of independence” in a speech tomorrow.
But Mr Yousaf has sparked derision from unionist politicians over the claim.
Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson shared an image of a newspaper article with the headline: “Yousaf: Independence could give the average Scot an extra £10k.”
She said: “Davidson: Independence could give me the body of Beyonce, the speed of Usain Bolt and Gillian Anderson for a wife.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr added: “Indy could give the average Scot £10k a year. Indy could make three new islands spring out of the Firth of Clyde. Indy could cleanse us of all morbidities.
“It’s turned into the SNP waving random claims around like a fanatic medicaster trying to sell his last bottle of snake oil.”
And fellow Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: “You ‘could’ win a luxury holiday home in Majorca worth £3m.”
In the first of a series of economic policy speech, Mr Yousaf is expeted to say Scottish independence would raise living standards and productivity.
Speaking at Glasgow University on Monday, the SNP leader is expected to draw heavily from a report by the Resolution Foundation, which found that if the UK closed its income and inequality gaps to the same level as similar economies – namely Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands – households would be £8,300 better off.
He will say: “If we use the same analysis for countries that are similar to Scotland – such as Denmark, Ireland and Finland – the difference for the typical Scottish household would be even greater.
“They would be £10,200 better off. That is the prize of independence.
“Not to match the performance of those independent countries overnight, no-one is saying that, but to start catching up so Scotland’s level of prosperity becomes more normal, more like that of comparable nations. It is the UK that is the outlier.”
But Scottish Tory finance spokeswoman Liz Smith said it “beggars belief” that Mr Yousaf will “lecture people on economics” after she claimed his government “created a £1.5billion black hole in Scotland’s finances”.
She added: “The SNP has presided over stagnant growth and utterly failed to engage with business or promote economic prosperity.
“He attacks the Westminster settlement delivering the highest ever block grants, a public spending bonus worth more than £2,000 a head and a huge tax cut in national insurance.
“By contrast, his SNP Government made Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK and has just raised taxes yet again to cover completely uncosted wage rises, council budgets and botched vanity projects.
“It’s difficult to know which is more alarming – the First Minister’s economic illiteracy or his arrogant unawareness of it.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour economy spokesman Daniel Johnson said the country’s potential had been “held back by an SNP government bereft of ideas or ambition”.
