Kate Forbes pledges to use Budget as a 'stepping stone' to Fairer Scotland
The Finance Secretary will set out her draft plans at Holyrood on Thursday
The Finance Secretary has insisted that the Covid pandemic must not be allowed to define Scotland's future, with the promise that her Scottish Budget this week will serve as a "stepping stone towards a fairer, greener" nation.
Kate Forbes will reveal her draft tax and spending plans for 2022-23 in a statement to Holyrood on Thursday.
The First Minister has already confirmed this will include cash to double the Scottish Child Payment, which helps youngsters in poorer families, from £10 a week to £20 a week from April - a move widely welcomed by anti-poverty campaigners.
But Nicola Sturgeon warned that funding this commitment will mean hard choices elsewhere in the Budget.
Ms Forbes promised that her Budget proposals would help "provide certainty and stability for families whilst working to reduce inequalities" - adding that the process for this had already begun with the commitment to double the Scottish Child Payment from April.
This will initially benefit 105,000 youngsters under the age of six - but that will rise to more than 400,000 children when the payment is rolled out to all those under 16 at the end of 2022.
She said: "This Budget is a Budget of choices, which means that we have chosen to prioritise tackling inequalities, transitioning to net zero and investing in economic recovery.
"That means that we can't do everything, but what we are choosing to do, we want to do well.
"We want to take children out of poverty, we want to meet our net zero targets and we want to make sure that Scotland is a more prosperous country."
In his Budget statement in October, Chancellor Rishi Sunak claimed the Scottish Government was in line to receive £41 billion a year from Westminster.
However, Scottish ministers argue that when additional spending over the last two years to help cope with Covid is included, the amount they will have at their disposal will fall in 2022-23.
Ms Forbes added: "Obviously, the bulk of our funding comes from the UK Government and whilst the chancellor may talk about an increase in our Budget, it is very much a decrease since last year because he has stripped Covid consequentials out.
"Our households, businesses and public services are still dealing with the impact of Covid. And yet, there isn't the same Covid consequentials to manage it.
"That means that Budgets have to absorb the impact of Covid on the transport system, on the health system, on the education system."
Thursday's Budget will also look to set out plans to bolster economic recovery and support public services, she added.