Nicola Sturgeon could have reached a very different conclusion on pubs and restaurants if the furlough scheme had been extended.
She admitted the decision to impose a curfew on the hospitality industry instead of a full shut down was influenced money.
Speaking at her daily briefing today the First Minister explained that it's "not unreasonable" to ask why pubs haven't been closed as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise.
She said: "Many people ask me why we don't just close pubs completely right now. And, actually, that is not an unreasonable question.
"If the Scottish Government had the power to borrow money, or to extend the furlough job retention scheme so we could mitigate the impact on jobs, it is very possible, perhaps even likely, that we would have reached a different decision on hospitality yesterday.
"But we went as far as we could within the powers we have."
Instead Ms Sturgeon imposed a 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants in a bid to reduce the amount of time people socialise.
She also introduced a nationwide ban on household gatherings and advised against car sharing.
Ms Sturgeon pointed out that she plans to write to Boris Johnson asking for talks on giving Scotland more financial powers.
And she cautioned she is willing to introduce tougher rules if the current restrictions don't have the necessary impact.
