THE BBC has apologised on air for an error in its reporting of the latest GERS figures, which an SNP MSP had branded "disgraceful" and "fake news".

In its report on the release of the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) statistics, the BBC made a mess of its presentation of spending figures.

Today, the broadcaster interrupted its 1pm TV news bulletin to say it had confused the spending of the Scottish Government with that of the public sector as a whole.

READ MORE: SNP aren’t helping with the BBC’s problem of properly representing Scotland

The presenter said: "Scotland's public finances have improved slightly, with an increase in revenue and a reduction in the deficit, according to the latest figures.

"But the Scottish Government last year spent nearly £13.5 billion more than it raised, meaning the nation's deficit is four times higher than that of the UK as a whole."

While the deficit may be £13.5bn, the BBC presented it as the "Scottish Government" being responsible for all of that expenditure – when in fact, it also accounts for UK Government spending in Scotland.

SNP MSP Paul Wheelhouse hit back yesterday, saying: "This is disgraceful @BBCNews – your presenter clearly states that GERS says 'the Scottish Government last year spent nearly £13.5bn more than it raised'.

"This is a really serious factual error & I expect to see an equally prominent/high profile apology to [finance secretary] @DerekMackaySNP!

"The deficit figures are after UK Govt spend on pensions, welfare and cost of UK national debt service, Trident nukes (not wanted here) et al are added in!

"I am often frustrated by ignorant coverage but have often shrugged it off – this goes into seriously fake news territory & given how important this issue is, this sort of disgraceful misrepresentation is totally unacceptable from a very well resourced public service broadcaster."

Now, the BBC have apologised on air for the inaccuracy.

A presenter explained: "Yesterday on the BBC News at One we reported on an improvement in Scotland's public finances with an increase in revenue and a reduction in the deficit.

"In doing so we said that the Scottish Government last year spent nearly £13.5bn more than it raised.

"That was incorrect. That figure covers all public sector expenditure in Scotland, including areas controlled by the UK Government and other public bodies.

"We apologise for that mistake on yesterday's programme."

Wheelhouse welcomed the broadcaster's apology.

He tweeted: "Fair play to @BBCNews for correcting yesterday’s mistake & doing so in a way that’s equally likely to have been seen by the same audience.

"I appreciate that move – a classy approach & thank the team also for writing to me privately to explain how they have addressed my concerns."

Yesterday's GERS figures revealed that Scotland was in a better place than it was last year, with the notional deficit – the difference between what is spent and raised – from 8.9% to 7.9% of GDP.

They also showed a large rise in Scottish North Sea revenue, rising from £266 million in 2016/17 to £1.327bn in 2017/18.