Scotland may need its own Chancellor to handle Holyrood’s new tax powers, according to deputy first minister John Swinney.

Swinney, whose two roles as deputy first minister and finance secretary include both the constitution and the economy, says that there is a debate to be had on how the parliament adapts to Scotland’s new powers. By April 2017 Holyrood will be responsible for all income taxation and around £2.4bn of welfare spending.

Speaking at a Scottish Parliamentary Journalists’ Association event, Swinney said: “There is an argument for there purely being a ministerial role that looks solely at the issues of tax and public expenditure control.

"There are other responsibilities of course. The responsibilities in this respect will be growing very dramatically in the course of the next few years."

He added: "What has changed, and what I thought was quite evident in the Budget process in the last couple of years, was the growing proportion of time and budget preparation that is now taken on tax-related issues.

"It opens up a very significant new set of issues and the deployment of responsibilities within government must be considered within that backdrop into the bargain."

He said a Scottish chancellor is "an interesting prospect worthy of further consideration given the nature of how our responsibilities are changing".

His comments were made just a day after the UK Chancellor delivered his budget. The budget contained major tax cuts to help Scotland’s struggling North Sea oil and gas industry.

Commenting on the Chancellor’s oil tax cuts Swinney said: "What he did yesterday was helpful.

"I think given the scale of the challenge that we currently face I think the Chancellor could have done more to reduce the cost to individual companies and give them the greater ability to weather what is a very difficult period."

The deputy first minister however does not believe that the downturn in Scotland's oil and gas industry has damaged the economic case for independence.

Swinney said: "Yes, we have got a particular challenge at the moment around oil but we also shouldn't lose sight of the fact that over a very long period of time, oil has contributed very significantly to the UK economy, and in the years to come there is still a very significant economic opportunity in the North Sea sector.

"That to me is where the economic case for independence rests, given the fundamental inherent strength of the Scottish economy."

Swinney has served as finance secretary since 2007 and as deputy first minister since 2014.