An independent Scotland would have run big public-finance surpluses in the 1980s but suffered in the 1990s as the price of oil slumped.
It has also put local government finances into surplus, making states where gambling remains illegal less inclined to legalize it.
George Osborne is set to miss his target of putting the public finances into surplus by the end of the decade according to the latest forecasts by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
Having ditched their pledge to restore the public finances to surplus by 2020, the Tories have simply shifted the target date to 2025.
Hammond has already said he will abandon the plans of his predecessor, George Osborne, to return the public finances to surplus by 2019-20.
Against the backdrop of shaky global economy, the chancellor is expected to announce fresh spending cuts in Wednesday's budget to keep to his target to get public finances in surplus by the end of the decade.
David Gauke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said: "With the public finances in surplus in July, our economy starts from a position of strength to face any economic turbulence following the vote to leave the EU.
The Bank of England voted to keep rates on hold at their record low of 0.5% George Osborne is set to miss his target of putting the public finances into surplus by the end of the decade according to the latest forecasts by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
Britain was recovering from these horrors, he said, because of its adherence to "the plan".He referred to a raft of spending cuts, tax increases and pro-business gestures designed with a view to restoring the public finances to surplus by 2018.
He has already broken two of his own fiscal rules, on debt and welfare, and has deferred breaking the third and final pledge – to take the public finances into surplus by the end of this decade – only with the aid of some fantastical arithmetic.
Osborne, it said, "has already broken two of his own fiscal rules, on debt and welfare, and has deferred breaking the third and final pledge - to take the public finances into surplus by the end of this decade - only with the aid of some fantastical arithmetic".
