Alasdair Morgan called for a focus on growth

Finance Minister Andy Kerr put special emphasis on health, education and transport infrastructure.

However, Nationalists and Tories said there should be more emphasis on economic growth.

Greens warned of a "climate wrecking charter" and Socialists said crucial poverty and pay inequality issues were not being addressed.

Mr Kerr said Scotland's budget will rise by �5bn between this year and 2008 and pledged a package that focused on "enterprise, opportunity and fairness".

However, Scottish National Party economy spokesman Alasdair Morgan said ministers had "failed to deliver on what they spend" and "they have failed to deliver the long-term growth we require on a sustained basis into the future".

He said that once again Mr Kerr had set no target for economic growth.

Mr presiding officer, if there is obesity in Scotland, it is with the executive Brian Monteith Scottish Tories

"Growth is flat lining, still lags behind the UK and is left out of sight with small European countries we should be seeking to emulate.

"The fact is that the minister's powers and the levers available to him do not allow him to get to grips with the problem of lack of growth," Mr Morgan said.

For the Tories, Brian Monteith also said the executive should be taking proper measures to promote growth and "stop gorging on the taxes of Scotland and start slimming down".

Mr Monteith said his party was committed to cutting the council tax, business rates and bureaucratic waste within public services and government.

"Mr presiding officer, if there is obesity in Scotland, it is with the executive," he said.

Rented sector

Jeremy Purvis, of the Scottish Liberal Democrats who are in coalition government with Labour, said the proposals pointed to "real investment in our infrastructure".

Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan asked a series of questions, including how many children remained in poverty, how many new homes would be built for the social rented sector and how much had been set aside for addressing the "equal pay gap" between the wages of men and women, particularly in the public sector.

Mr Kerr said "too many children are still in poverty" and the executive had to continue to work hard on addressing that.

With Mr Sheridan shaking his head in disapproval, Mr Kerr referred the question on new homes to the communities minister.

Tommy Sheridan was unhappy with the minister's response

He added that the executive ran "very forward-looking pay policies to ensure that does not occur" within the administration.

Mr Sheridan later said the minister had failed to answer all of the questions put to him.

The Scottish Greens dubbed the transport plans a "climate-wrecking charter".

Transport spokesman Chris Ballance said: "There is no real transport strategy to tackle climate change or growing traffic levels.

"There may be more money going into public transport at long last, but it is still not enough to counter the cash going in the opposite direction.

"The resources to make a real difference to congestion and climate change are being stolen by madcap projects like the M74 and the Aberdeen bypass and the promotion of ever more air travel through the doubling of the Route Development Fund."