Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will provide an update on spending, which is being referred to as a ‘mini Budget’ but will be more of a confirmation of the sheer cost of responding to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking on several morning television and radio programs today, Mr Frydenberg repeatedly described the fiscal situation as “eye-watering”, with a debt and deficit situation unlike anything the country has seen before.

“That‘s the harsh reality of this pandemic,” he told Channel 9’s Today program. “The coronavirus has required the government to spend unprecedented amounts of money to support people in need.

“I don‘t think we have seen uncertainty like this in a global and indeed a national economy in living memory.”

On the JobKeeper wage subsidy alone – which the government yesterday extended past its original expiry date of September, albeit at a reduced rate and with stricter eligibility criteria – is currently costing $11 billion a month.

“That is unsustainable if we kept that program going indefinitely,” Mr Frydenberg said.

Over on ABC News Breakfast, he said the rate at which the government is increasing debt is “very substantial” and repeated his description of tomorrow’s update as “eye-watering”.

There has been much speculation about exactly what tomorrow will reveal, with some commentary estimating the deficit for this year will hit a staggering $200 billion.

Support measures already committed have totalled $260 billion – more than 13 per cent of Australia’s GDP.

Yesterday’s extension of JobKeeper until next March, as well as the JobSeeker coronavirus supplement until December, will cost an extra $20 billion.

“Every dollar we spend is a borrowed dollar, and that’s why it will take some time to pay back the debt,” Mr Frydenberg told ABC News Breakfast.

He added that Australia’s revenue has also taken a “big hit” due to the coronavirus crisis.

“It‘s going to be eye-watering, the deficits released on Thursday, and the amount of debt, remembering the debt was already at record highs before the coronavirus,” Labor’s treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers said on Sky News yesterday, borrowing the government’s phrasing.

“ It’s important that we get a proper, comprehensive update on Thursday, not another marketing exercise. It’s very troubling to hear that the government is talking about releasing half an update of two years rather than four.

“Australians deserve to know how deep the government thinks this recession will be, how long unemployment will be higher than is ideal, and how much debt has been piled up throughout this period.”

“Tomorrow is about reconciling the books for last year and this year in terms of all the commitments that have been made,” Mr Morrison explained.

“So it‘s to be transparent with people about what the cost is. This has been the single largest economic impact that the government has had to face since the Second World War.”