With the country facing a £178 billion deficit, Mr Darling made clear he would have only limited room for manoeuvre on March 24 when he delivers his final financial statement before the country goes to the polls.

"I don't think anyone's expecting some sort of Christmas-tree-of-a-Budget. They're not going to get anything like that," he told the BBC.

"What you're going to get is a sensible Budget, a Budget for the times in which we live, a Budget for the future of the country."

Earlier Chief Treasury Secretary Liam Byrne said the Government would not need any further tax rises in order to meet its commitment to halve the deficit within four years, beyond the £19 billion already announced.

Asked on BBC2's Daily Politics programme whether it was possible "to get to a 50% reduction in the deficit with the tax increases we already know about?" he replied: "Yep".

A Treasury spokesman insisted that there was nothing new in his remarks which were simply restating the position set out in the Pre-Budget Report in December.

"These comments are not in any way new. We have set out our deficit reduction plan numerous times over the last year," the spokesman said.

However some experts questioned whether the economy will achieve the pick-up in growth predicted by the Treasury which would be needed to restore tax revenues if the target is to be met.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne said the Government had still to set out a clear plan to get the deficit down. He told the BBC: "It sounds to me like the Chief Secretary is not really in command of his figures. We haven't heard from Alistair Darling, who's actually the person who's setting out the Budget. And that's the problem with this Government - lots of hints, leaks, gaffes, but not a clear plan to deal with Britain's debt."