JIM McColl, the businessman and economic adviser to Nicola Sturgeon, has backed the SNP's call for full fiscal autonomy while warning the economy could become "screwed up" after the wholesale devolution of tax powers.
The chief executive of Clyde Blowers Capital said it was important to "control your own destiny" and insisted Scotland could attract more business investment with greater economic powers.
His comments were dismissed as a "major gaffe" by Scottish Labour, which has repeatedly highlighted figures from the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank showing full fiscal autonomy would blow a £10billion hole in Scotland's finances by 2020.
Interviewed on Channel 4 News, Mr McColl said: "There's a real risk that if you get full fiscal autonomy it gets screwed up but then you've got the chance to get them out and get someone else in.
"Having the ability to control your own destiny, I think, is important."
He added: "I believe they need more powers.
"The ones that I am really keen on are the powers that would allow you to attract businesses here.
"We need to grow more businesses here, and attract more foreign direct investment.
"To do that we need people to give people a reason to come here, an advantage."
The Monaco-based tycoon is a member of Ms Sturgeon's hand-picked Council of Economic Advisers.
He was yesterday named in the Sunday Times Rich List as one of nine Scots billionaires, with a fortune estimated at £1.06billion.
He was a leading pro-Yes voice in last year's referendum campaign but has said the question of independence has been settled by the vote.
Under full fiscal autonomy, Scotland would control all its own tax and spending and pay an annual contribution towards UK defence, debt interest payments and other shared functions.
The IFS has warned the set-up would make Scotland £7.6billion in the current financial year, rising to £9.7billion in 2019/20, largely because oil revenues, which the Holyrood government would rely upon, have slumped.
The SNP says it will use its influence at Westminster after the election to "move to" full fiscal autonomy, also known as full financial responsibility or devo max.
It will demand the devolution of business taxes, national insurance and the bulk of the welfare system as part of a phased transition.
Yesterday 150 business owners signed an open letter calling for full fiscal autonomy.
It was organised by the pro-independence campaign group Business for Scotland.
Scottish Labour's finance spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said : "This is a major gaffe.
"Ordinary Scots will not understand why one of the First Minister's most senior advisers could be so blithe about the economy being 'screwed up'.
"But then it is ordinary people who would suffer under FFA not rich businessmen like Mr McColl, who doesn't even live in Scotland.
"As a member of the First Minister's Council of Economic Advisers I am sure he has read the IFS's authoritative report on FFA.
"If this is the kind of advice he gives in public, I shudder to think what he says to the First Minister in private."
SNP deputy leader and Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie: said: "Scotland is a prosperous country that has contributed more tax per head than the UK as a whole in each of the last 34 years, so there is no doubt that Scotland can and would be successful with full fiscal responsibility.
"We know that fiscal responsibility would take some years to implement, and as 150 business leaders have said today it would enable Scotland's economy to flourish.
"Bringing the powers into our own hands will allow decisions to be made that are right for the Scottish economy and accountable to the people of Scotland."
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