Job cuts to Victoria's public sector haven't been ruled out to combat the debt-ridden state budget but a projected return to surplus is not in jeopardy.
The public sector is bracing for savage job cuts when the Victorian budget is delivered on Tuesday, and Treasurer Tim Pallas did little to quell those fears on Wednesday.
Preparing to hand down his ninth budget, Mr Pallas said the government was looking at ways to better manage how public money was spent.
"It is critically important the taxpayer have confidence that as a government we're deploying the effort and the resources of the state - the taxpayer dollars - to the areas that they rate as being important," he told reporters.
"They will see that demonstrated in this budget."
Victoria's public sector wage bill is forecast to reach $37 billion for this financial year before rising to more than $40b in another three years.
Mr Pallas would not say whether the government would set a target for the numbers of jobs to go.
"All of that will be revealed in the context of the budget," he said.
Mr Pallas rebuffed suggestions it would be a horror budget but conceded it would be very difficult given the economic climate and state of Victoria's finances.
"Just as households are encountering difficulties in managing their household budgets because of high inflation and rising interest rates ... that is having an impact on the government's balance sheet," he said.
"It's difficult. There's no doubt about that."
Victoria's net debt is predicted to hit $165.9b by mid-2026, with annual interest repayments tipped to rise from $3.86b to $7.32b across the next four years.
Those economic forecasts and others will be updated next week but Mr Pallas confirmed Victoria's projected return to surplus in 2025/26 was not under threat from rising interest repayments.
"We've got a four-step (budget repair) plan. We'll stick to that plan," he said.