The Treasurer of the Northern Territory has called on all government departments to find extra savings in their budget, as message taken by many as code for public sector job cuts.

The NT Labor Opposition says Treasurer Dave Tollner has mandated a 10 per cent saving be found, but Mr Tollner says he has not nominated an exact figure.

He says it will be up to the departments whether job cuts are the chosen path to cut costs.

Mr Tollner says he has approached department heads several times in the last few months, because the Territory looks like spending about a billion dollars more than it receives in revenue this year.

“I have simply asked departmental heads to look at ways that they can reduce their spending,” Mr Tollner said this week.

“I am hoping in the next few weeks I will have an opportunity to meet with them, as the Government starts to gear up and plan for our next budget.”

“We will sit down and start to frame the budget in the next couple of months.

“The decisions about jobs, spending and all that sort of stuff will be made by chief executives, before going to a budget Cabinet,” the Treasurer said.

Some departmental representatives have already claimed that services are suffering due to budgetary constraints.

The concern over job cuts will be widespread, as Territory and federal governments are by far the biggest employer in NT.