So what happens now? Derek Mackay may have a budget but his party lacks the votes in parliament to make it a reality.
The Nationalists are in a minority at Holyrood. They need to borrow votes from one of the opposition parties to get the budget passed. The question now is where those votes will come from.
The last time the SNP was a minority government, from 2007 to 2011, their little helpers were the Conservatives.
There was a good working relationship between Alex Salmond, then the first minister, and Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory leader.
The Conservatives were happy to abstain on the budget in exchange for concessions on policing, small business and mental health. It is inconceivable that Nicola Sturgeon, whose instincts are significantly to the left of Mr Salmond, will agree to a similar deal and hand the Tories a moral victory.
Advertisement
Inconceivable, too, that she would make any concessions to Labour or the Liberal Democrats, both of whom have been accusing the SNP of becoming a centrist, low-tax party.
Which leaves the Greens — and it is just as well as they are Ms Sturgeon’s preferred partners.
Helpfully, a list of the kind of concessions they might find agreeable was published this week by Patrick Harvie, their leader at Holyrood.
Two in particular might catch the first minister’s eye: a top-up of child benefit and a new benefit for young carers. A child benefit increase, in particular, would be a new feather in the Scottish government’s cap — and a visible sign of a different approach to welfare.
There is, of course, another reason for keeping in with the Greens. As it is the only other party at Holyrood that supports Scottish independence, Ms Sturgeon would need its support if she wanted to call a new referendum on full sovereignty.