Scottish businesses have £35.6billion in “hidden” cash that could be used to fund growth, according to Bank of Scotland.
The cash is currently tied up in excess working capital, the day-to-day costs of running a business, it said.
Sustained economic growth and a fall in the sterling exchange rate have put record pressure on firms to put more cash aside, leaving many of them at risk if growth were to weaken in the months ahead, the bank warned as it announced the findings of its second Working Capital Index report.
Simon Quin, of Bank of Scotland Global Transaction Banking, added: “The increase in the working capital index in Scotland over the past six months is the highest of anywhere in the UK.
“Scottish businesses are now under pressure to increase working capital, whereas in April the pressure was to decrease it.
“This is probably a result of the fact that GDP (gross domestic product) in Scotland has seen a bit of a resurgence during that time, outstripping the rest of Britain earlier this year, and aided by the small recovery in the price of Brent crude.
“But by locking up cash in this way, it stops investment in other more productive areas of the business, whether that be investing in new people, creating new products or targeting new markets. Every pound tied up in working capital is a pound that could be invested in other, more productive areas.”