The Finance Minister is heralding the Government's success at belt tightening - ahead of the Budget

Nicola Willis gave a preview speech to the Hutt Valley Business Chamber this morning -- ahead of laying the documents bare late this month.

She's ruled out austerity and again promised tax relief, despite a challenging economy.

Willis says after taking office, the Government quickly set up a programme to find 1.5-billion-dollars of ongoing annual savings across its departments.

She says they can today confirm they have met that target, after a lot of work.