Alex Salmond has been accused of “breathtaking chutzpah” by asserting Scotland could leave the UK and keep the pound.
David Marsh, of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, said he did not think the rest of the UK would accept the arrangement – and criticised the first minister for not outlining a “Plan B” option in the white paper.
The SNP insists it would be in the rest of the UK’s interest to retain a currency union, as the removal of oil and gas, as well as whisky, from the balance of payments would weaken sterling and changing currency would also damage firms south of the border which do business in Scotland.
But Mr Marsh, chairman of the Advisory Board of Independent Investment Bank and London and Oxford Capital Markets, said politicians should learn lessons from Europe.
“With respect to the continent’s tortured experience within economic and monetary union since 1999, not only has Alex Salmond learned and forgotten nothing, but he also has drawn precisely the wrong conclusions,” he added.
“He has chosen to ignore the prime lesson of monetary union – that you need political union to make monetary union work.
“With breathtaking chutzpah that you would expect to see more in an 18th century gambling den than in the birthplace of Adam Smith, Mr Salmond believes his country can withdraw from political union with the rest of Britain – yet still carry on with monetary union with England as though nothing had happened,” added Mr Marsh.
A spokesman for pro-UK group Better Together said failure of the white paper to set out a credible Plan B on currency meant it was “more a work of fiction than fact”.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government insisted the pound was as much Scotland’s as it is the rest of the UK’s.
“We have put forward sensible proposals for a formal monetary union that would ensure both governments had full flexibility over their fiscal policies,” he added.