The chairman of pub chain JD Wetherspoon, Tim Martin, has told Sky News he does not share the view that price rises are inevitable if Scotland goes it alone.
His comments will be seen as a boost to the Yes campaign of First Minister Alex Salmond after a string of major banks and retailers warned of potential cost increases under independence from the UK.
Asda and John Lewis said on Thursday that sums would inevitably be passed on to the consumer while BP went as far as to say that it opposed independence.
Sky's City Editor Mark Kleinman reported earlier on Friday that major telecoms firms were considering a similar warning on the issue of costs.
But Mr Martin, whose company operates 67 pubs in Scotland, suggested such statements were premature and "greatly exaggerated".
Mr Martin argues independence is no barrier to success He told Business Presenter Ian King: "It will entirely depend on the policies that Scotland follows.
"We all know that New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland - small populations, extremely successful economies with their own currencies can do very well - so it becomes a question of what are the policies they're going to have."
For example, Britain is a terribly highly taxed country for pubs and if Scotland were to say we're going to reduce excise duty to European levels, we're going to have the same VAT for pubs and supermarkets - because it's much higher for pubs in Britain at the moment - beer prices will go down".
He added: "Alex and I could be having a pint together in Vincent Square in Glasgow sometime soon".
Mr Martin, who has not taken sides in the referendum debate, spoke out following the release of the company's preliminary results for its last financial year, which showed record sales as a consequence of new pub openings and longer opening hours.
Profit before tax increased by 3.1% to £79.4m.
Mr Martin said the company generated £600.2m in taxes - the equivalent of £662,000 per pub - and employed an extra 3,000 staff.
He has consistently argued that a more favourable tax regime would allow him to invest more in new pubs and the creation of jobs.
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