Department of Finance officials have revealed to the Sunday Canberra Times that time is running out to adequately provide in-depth advice for ministers who will be expected to face a barrage of media and public interest on the particulars of the budget.

''This year's budget has been the tightest, timing wise, it has ever been. To be where we are this late in the piece is unheard of,'' a senior official said.

''It has also been one of the closest kept in terms of what we are able to do for briefings. Leaks have been given to the media but they are strictly controlled by the Prime Minister's, Treasurer's and Finance offices.

''The ministers, especially junior ones, wouldn't have a chance principally because they haven't received the ins and outs of the budget.''

With officials and ministerial staff working on details up until tomorrow evening, the technical timing of the 2009-10 budget has been shaped by an unusual set of parameters not least the effects of the global financial crisis.

In a regular financial year, the budget time frame is modelled in part on the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO), an outline government's fiscal strategy, released in December.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times