It will be "far more difficult" to extract money from the State in six months time, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Gordhan told a media briefing on the release of the provincial budgets and expenditure review document that the Treasury was embarking on a rigorous campaign to reduce "frivolous spending" by R2-billion.

"In six months time it is not going to be easy to extract money from the State - we owe that to the taxpayer," Gordhan said.

He said the Treasury would be meeting the South African Local Government Association to look at ways of cutting "luxuries" at the local government level.

"The kind of luxuries used, from sponsorships to golf days, should be a thing of the past for the next three years," he said.

"Given the financial pressures we have to ensure that we spend efficiently and differently and that we cut down leakage."

Gordhan said he would like to increase the R2-billion that the government wants to save, but this was still a work in progress.

"There has been a passionate commitment on the part of my Cabinet colleagues to do the best they can to reduce misdirected spending," he said.

"The fiscal situation we find ourselves in is a tough one.

"Tough situations require us to be bold on how we spend money," Gordhan said.

The review document said provincial expenditure had grown from R161,2-billion in 2005/06 to R290,6-billion in 2009/10 and was expected to reach R338,9-billion in 2011/12.

The report said provincial spending on social programmes such as education, health, human settlement and social development had "grown strongly".

"Collectively, education and health spending at 32,4% of government spending and 8,9% of gross domestic product, remain the largest expenditure items on the consolidated government accounts," the report said.

Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene told the briefing the government would not compromise on its priorities, despite concerns over a projected R60-billion budget deficit.

"Servicing that debt will be costly, but we are not going to compromise on our priorities, like health, education and social development," Nene said.

Kenneth Brown, the head of intergovernmental relations at the Treasury, said R5,8-billion of the provincial budget had been overspent, mainly in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Gauteng had overspent by R3,2-billion in public works, owing largely to extra spending on the Gautrain.

KwaZulu-Natal had overspent on health and education.