Some of the nation's most vulnerable people will be the recipients of cost of living support in next week's federal budget, as the government seeks to support Australians doing it tough amid soaring inflation.
But Treasurer Jim Chalmers refused to outlay the specific measures that he would announce next week, insisting the support had to be delivered in a way that wouldn't further inflate living costs.
"People are feeling it around the country," he said.
"We will help where we can but we will help in a way that doesn't add to inflation."
The treasurer has refused to confirm speculation the budget will include a surplus for this financial year, thanks to surging commodity prices as the war in Ukraine drags on.
The budget bottom line has also benefited from greater income tax payments thanks to a lower-than-expected unemployment rate.
The government last year announced it would offer a $1.5 billion one-off cost of living package to help with energy bill relief. The treasurer wouldn't be drawn on any further efforts that might be included in the budget.
The states and territories will match the federal program, with the support going to people on pensions, other welfare recipients and small businesses.
"The budget will provide substantial relief for vulnerable Australians with high electricity bills," Mr Chalmers said.
While the short-term budget outlook looks buoyant, the treasurer and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher have repeatedly talked in recent months about the broader structural deficits the budget faces.
Mr Chalmers said Tuesday's budget would show the cost of servicing the national debt would be $112 billion over the next four years.
"When it comes to the magnitude of of this interest bill, we are talking about a $60 million a day bill on the interest that was left to us by our predecessors," he said.
Senator Gallagher earlier this week accused the Coalition of "booby trapping" the federal budget, by failing to allocate funding to ongoing programs beyond the next year.
She said the funding shortfalls affected the radioactive waste agency, myGov, national parks and veterans affairs.
On Friday she said the government had found $7.5 billion in "zombie legacy unfunded programs".
Speaking before Mr Chalmers and Senator Gallagher, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the government must hand down a surplus next week.
The budget looks set to increase the age limit from the single-parent payment, which is currently capped at 8 years old, to 14 years.
There is also speculation that the government will increase the unemployment benefit, JobSeeker, for people aged 55 years and older.
Figures this week showed that women aged between 55 and 64 years were the biggest cohort on the JobSeeker payment.
Mr Dutton said he would wait to see what the government included in the budget.
But he said the government needed to strike the balance between assisting people who can't find work at a time when businesses were struggling to fill all their jobs.
"You need to provide support to those who don't have the capacity to work," Mr Dutton said.
"But if people do have the capacity to work then you need to provide incentives for them to take those jobs up, particularly for younger people because you end up in a spiral very quickly if you are unemployed for a long time."
