Holyrood's finance secretary has admitted the economy in Scotland could recover at a slower rate than in England due to differences in when lockdown was eased.
Kate Forbes said it could be "worse for slightly longer" north of the Border as some sectors get back to the work after their counterparts down south.
But she insisted any differences could "even themselves out" if the public has more confidence in Scotland's routemap out of lockdown than with Boris Johnson's plan.
Some sectors of the economy in England such as construction continued during the height of the pandemic, while the housing market has recently resumed.
Appearing on BBC Scotland's Podlitical podcast, Forbes was asked if she was worried the recovery could take longer in Scotland than in England as "things are moving slower".
She said: "It certainly could be worse for slightly longer than in England.
"Shops (in England) are able to reopen, the housing market is slightly ahead and some construction continued during the pandemic.
"So yes, there is a risk of the economic impact being very disproprotinate."
She added: "I think a lot of the impact will be a lot more easily quantified at the end, because equally you could argue that if customers in England are not confident that things reopened at the right time they haven’t actually returned
"Ultimately, if there is a more significant return of customers or of the market in Scotland, and businesses get back up and trading quicker when they’re allowed to do so, actually it might even itself out.”
Forbes was also asked if the Scottish Government was considering reducing the two metre social distancing rule - something many hospitality businesses have called for.
She continued: "No one wants to see business owners in anguish or businesses unable to trade.
"The reason those measures are in place is we because we have a responsibility to save lives. All of these discussions are kept under constant review.
"The evidence that we are basing our decisions on suggests that two metres is significantly better than one metre. Some countries have gone with one metre - in many cases they have other measures we may not have in place.
"Where we can make it easier for businesses we will absolutely do that.
Asked if the two metre rule would be in place when pubs reopened under the next phase of easing lockdown restrictions, she said: "My expectation is it will have to be two metres for now.
"But we are constantly keeping these things under review."
