The Minister of Finance has tabled a draft report aimed at addressing public concerns that the government is "living large" while its citizens are feeling the "pain" caused by the economic downturn.

Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday the report, completed by a ministerial task team, was aimed at reprioritising spending to increase the impact of the budget.

"The task team's work is based on the key principle that government is not attempting to cut public spending, but rather to reduce wastage and to divert spending to new areas," Maseko said.

"The objectives of the proposals include addressing public concerns that government is 'living large' while citizens are feeling the pain caused by the economic downturn."

He said the report aimed to "change the culture towards greater prudence and less extravagance," achieve greater value for money and deliver more and better services with less resources.

The task team consists of the ministers of Finance, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, and Public Service and Administration.

The team was given the mandate to "develop concrete proposals and guidelines to achieve these objectives".