Don't expect budget handouts: Frydenberg

Don't expect any handouts in the May 10 budget, even if it is an election year, a Turnbull government frontbencher says.

Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg says the government is very conscious of the size of the budget deficit, even though Australia doesn't have the debt levels of Europe, the US and a number of other countries.

"We are focused on labour market flexibility, we are focusing on innovation," Mr Frydenberg, a former assistant treasurer, told Bloomberg Television on Monday.