A leading business organisation warned at the weekend that next year will be �incredibly difficult� for Scotland�s economy.
A leading business organisation warned at the weekend that next year will be "incredibly difficult" for Scotland's economy.
The Scottish Council for Development and Industry said it was expected 2009 would be the first year of negative growth for almost three decades but Dr Lesley Sawers, the SCDI chief executive, said Scotland had been through tough economic times before and the country could come out the other end "stronger than before".
Jim McColl, chief executive of Clyde Blowers, added that Scotland needs to rethink the future of its economy if it is to weather the turbulence of the next few years. The industrialist said the country needed to focus on strengthening its financial sector after a disastrous year for its great banking institutions.
"We do need to rethink the future of the Scottish economy.
Before the banking crisis we had a very strong financial sector, which has now been significantly weakened. Although banking is only one of three strands we have to our financial services industry, it is a very important one."
Mr McColl told The Herald: "We need to focus on strengthening our financial service sector and building other key industry sectors to support growth in the economy."
The Clyde Blowers chief was among a group of leading movers and shakers to gave their opinions on the year ahead.
When asked whether the UK had seen the worst of the downturn, Gavin Stewart, chief executive of Ignis Asset Management, said: "Not yet in terms of unemployment or corporate failures. There will not be anything quite as dramatic as the sudden collapse of the banks this year but the recession will last all or most of 2009."
Meanwhile, childrenswear chain Adams looks likely to become the latest victim of the retail squeeze after it applied to appoint administrators.
The 75-year-old company makes clothes for Boots and has 500 outlets in the UK, including 17 in Scotland.
