Budget like painting Harbour Bridge:Fraser

Treasury boss John Fraser has likened putting together the federal budget to painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge - it never ends.

Mr Fraser told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra that he would like to start the May budget process earlier, in November, in terms of macroeconomic settings.

"The budget process for Treasury ... is a bit like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you never stop and I just thought it may be worth exploring whether we could start the process a little bit earlier," he said on Monday.