NICOLA Sturgeon has hit out at "sexist tropes" in an article about Kate Forbes.

The Times article described Scotland's Economy Secretary as "shouty" for expressing her opinion on the latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures.

Titled "Shouting won’t get us out of a financial black hole", the piece by Michael Glackin said: "There’s something about Kate Forbes that reminds me of the scary young girl in the cult film The Ring.

"Certainly, the economy secretary’s shouty response on television when questioned about the latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) figures the other night was fearsome."

The First Minister said: "I’d hoped that the sexist tropes my & prior generations had to put up with would’ve been well in the past by now. But here we have a smart, articulate woman - holding senior government office - still being told she’s a ‘shouty’ girl for (perfectly calmly) expressing her opinions."

At a media briefing on the report Forbes set out how better prepared small independent countries were in dealing with the turmoil caused by the pandemic, borrowing at record low rates to fund job guarantee schemes and initiatives to revive their economy.

However, despite repeated requests, the UK Government has refused to hand greater borrowing powers to the Scottish Government.

READ MORE: Kate Forbes says GERS figures show Scotland in UK is 'financially unsustainable'

Glackin goes on to say that Forbes' response to a question from ITV Borders political editor Peter MacMahon was "devoid of serious analysis".

"Forbes’s response to these facts says a lot about what our politics has become in the past decade," he added. "It was devoid of serious analysis."

The article dismisses Forbes' assertion that Scotland’s place in the Union is “financially unsustainable” as a "bizarre rant".

Glackin said: "The Economy Secretary launched into a bizarre rant about small countries being able to borrow and run large deficits, neatly ignoring the fact that these countries have been forced into increased, and for many unsustainable, debt by the impact of Covid-19."

Forbes said it was “incredibly frustrating” that Scotland could not borrow to invest in recovery.

She went on to point out how New Zealand and coped with the pandemic and underlined that as a result of the No vote Scotland was not able to get support from the EU pandemic support scheme.

READ MORE: Richard Leonard humiliated in GERS clash with Nicola Sturgeon

Glackin pointed out the Fraser of Allander Institute think tank’s initial response to GERS, which said Scotland’s deficit could grow to around 21% and 22% next year.

Forbes said countries around the world had built up “unprecedented deficits” to deal with the pandemic which would be reduced over time.