George Osborne will detail further cuts to Whitehall departmental budgets as he unveils his fourth Budget later.
The chancellor has already told cabinet colleagues they will have to cut 2% of their departments' spending over the next two years, saving about £2.5bn.
The savings will go to infrastructure projects designed to boost growth.
The Budget is the first major financial statement since the UK economy shrunk in the last three months of 2012 and the UK lost its triple A credit rating.
The government has been under increasing pressure over its economic strategy as a result of those developments.
Mr Osborne will start speaking in the House of Commons at 12:30 GMT, straight after Prime Minister's Questions.
Schools protectedConservative MPs have called for tax cuts and a spending freeze, while Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable has led calls for an increase in capital spending, to build roads and houses.
The chancellor will give his fourth Budget speech on 20 March at 12:30 GMT
There is full coverage of the Budget and how it affects you on the BBC News website
You will also be able to watch the event on a special programme on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel from 11:30 GMT
But both Prime Minister David Cameron and Mr Osborne have insisted they will stick to the deficit reduction course they set out in 2010 and have ruled out more borrowing.
Instead, the additional 2% departmental cuts - which come on top of the 3% spending reductions announced for the next two years in last year's Autumn Statement - will be used to boost capital spending.
The budgets for health, schools and HM Revenue & Customs will be unaffected by the cuts.
Overseas aid will also be shielded, while local government and police budgets will be protected for the first year.
However, other government departments, such as justice, environment and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, will be told to deliver a further 1% cut to their day-to-day budgets in both 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Spending envelopeThe move has been made possible by under-spending by government departments this year, which "reflected the success that secretaries of state across the board have had, working with the Treasury, on bringing departmental resource spending down", a Number 10 spokesman said.
Total annual underspends across Whitehall have averaged about £6bn since 2007 and the figure for 2012-13 will be announced later.
“Start Quote
End QuoteFirst the cuts. Next the giveaways. Then the grim economic forecasts.”
As well as additional cuts, Mr Osborne is also expected to set out the "spending envelope" - the total amount of spending available to departments - in the forthcoming Spending Review, which will take place on 26 June.
Government policy on alcohol pricing is also expected to be announced by the chancellor, following reports the government has ditched plans for a 45p-per-unit minimum alcohol price in England and Wales.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson says Mr Osborne may be considering scrapping the beer duty escalator, which automatically increases alcohol duty by 2% above inflation every year.
If so, he will feel under pressure to increase taxes on cheap but strong alcoholic drinks to show that the government has not abandoned Mr Cameron's campaign to crack down on cheap booze, our correspondent says.
A boost for house-building and an extension of the government's NewBuy scheme, which helps people with small deposits buy newly built homes, may also be included in the Budget.
Inflation targetAnd there has been speculation the chancellor may look at changing the remit of the Bank of England to help the economy get back to sustained growth.
What is expected in the Budget
- Additional 2% cuts to most Whitehall departments over the next two years. The savings will go towards large-scale infrastructure projects
- Extension of the NewBuy scheme, to help people with small deposits buy newly built homes
- A further increase of the personal tax allowance to reach the coalition's stated ambition of £10,000
- An announcement on the government's policy on alcohol pricing. This could include scrapping the beer duty escalator, but with increased taxes on cheap, strong alcohol
- Possible changes to the remit of the Bank of England, to help it promote growth
- Possible downgrade of growth forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility and higher future borrowing
Rising energy prices contributed to a rise in UK consumer price inflation in February, taking it to 2.8%.
Inflation running higher than the 2% target makes life harder for the government as it tries to balance the books, as assumptions made about spending can turn out to be too low.
There is talk that the chancellor will alter the 2% inflation target mandate set for the Bank of England's interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee in his Budget.
In July, the current governor, Sir Mervyn King, will make way for Canadian Mark Carney.
He and others have expressed interest in expanding the Bank's role in some way, potentially targeting growth or unemployment alongside its current inflation target.
Ahead of the Budget the government announced plans for some parents in the UK to be able to claim back up to £1,200 a year for each child - or 20% of childcare costs - from 2015.
Mr Cameron said the plans, expected to cost £1.4bn, would be a "boost direct to the pockets of hard-working families".
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