It may be the most difficult balancing act since the Great Blondin became the first man to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope in 1859.

But Finance Minister Bob Richards — in the first full OBA Budget since the party won power in 2012 — will have to strike a delicate balance between the spending cuts that pretty much everyone agrees will have to made to reduce the country’s massive deficit, and the equally pressing need to provide a bigger safety net for the increasing numbers of people for whom the first green shoots of recovery have still to bear fruit.

Details of the Budget will not be revealed until this morning — but it is likely that, in line with the SAGE Commission’s report on public spending, at least $75 million in cuts will be made.

At the same time, however, spending on financial assistance for those struggling to make ends meet is set to be increased by close to $10 million to reflect demand for help.

And — in common with the rest of the developed world — tough decisions will have to be made on a public service pensions crisis that will see funds run out within decades.

Tech taxes ­— on cellphone and internet usage — are also predicted to rise on the grounds the sector is one of the few growth industries on the Island, and those hooked on their smartphones and iPads are thought to be less sensitive to price than other consumers.

The SAGE Commission recommended a three-year programme of cuts, rising in $10 million increments from a first year figure of $65 million to $85 million in the last year.

And Mr Richards — who is on record as pledging that Government planned to be more aggressive than the SAGE recommendations — may well aim for the middle figure of $75 million, although some experts predicted a figure around the $100 million mark.

A reduction in the cost of public service salaries — which topped more than $350 million in last year’s Budget — is also likely to be a priority for Mr Richards.

But how he does that, without the pain of large-scale job cuts and the inevitable social problems that would follow it, is still up in the air, although some have suggested a gradualist approach by cutting the working week in stages, or offering early retirement packages.

And others pointed out that simply abolishing the 500 or so unfilled public service posts would be a quick, and relatively painless way, to reduce the size of the Civil Service, while the number of quangos, which cost around $200 million a year to fund, could also be cut.

But — as elder statesman and former Premier Alex Scott pointed out in The Royal Gazette earlier this week — countries, and their people, are not corporations, and he said that the SAGE report owed its approach more to a business viewpoint than a Governmental one.

Privatisation and outsourcing of some Government services are also likely to be considered as a way of reducing Government spending — but transferring jobs to the private sector, not losing them altogether.

Privatisation has had a chequered history elsewhere, and has led to increased prices, and poorer terms and conditions for workforces — but the Minister has already touted mutualisation, where the workforce become shareholders in their new employers, as a way of ensuring a smooth transition.

The Island will also have to find ways to increase income and encourage new international business, which would not only boost Government coffers, but provide alternative job opportunities.