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Tieng Anh Vui
Two influential think-tanks have warned that austerity measures could still be in place when the 2020 election takes place.
"We are still as far away from the (budget deficit) target as we were in 2010," the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Institute for Government said.
"Indeed, it would not be surprising if not just 2015 but also 2020 was an 'austerity' election."
The warnings came in a briefing ahead of the Spending Review on 26 June.
Chancellor George Osborne's review will cover spending after the next election.
He originally predicted in 2010 that he could balance the budget within four years, but that is not now expected to happen until 2017-18.
While the government has stuck to most of its plans from 2010, there has been less growth than was expected, which has reduced the amount of money the government has taken in taxes.
They warned that whoever is chancellor after the next election will probably have to raise taxes straight away.
The warning of extended austerity was based on the experience in Canada in the 1980s and 1990s, when the government needed to bring the budget deficit under control.
"If the UK experience proves to be as drawn out as the Canadian one, we should expect not just 2015 but also 2020 to be an austerity election," the briefing said.
A budget deficit exists when a government is spending more that in it raising.
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