The full extent of National's plans to axe government departments may not be made clear in time for the election.
Prime Minister John Key yesterday said Thursday's budget would include a couple of public service initiatives, but confirmed no government departments would be dropped in it.
However, he said if National was elected for a second term then the number of departments was likely to be reduced.
"We have a long-term programme of public sector reform we want to embark on," he said.
When questioned about his party's long-term plan for the sector today, Mr Key said the details were still being worked through.
"We are working on that on a case by case basis," he said.
"I can't tell you exactly what mergers may or may not take place, that's a matter of them stacking up to the individual analysis, but it is likely there will be a reduction in the number of departments."
Mr Key said he was not sure work around the reform would be completed by the election.
"There's a number of departments that we're looking at, and questions are being asked but no conclusion has been reached yet."
Mr Key said announcements about the public sector in Thursday's budget would help achieve the long-term reform goal.
The State Services Commission, Treasury, the Finance Minister and Cabinet had all looked at the broader issue of government service and concluded the individual components needed to be examined, Mr Key said.
"There's no one cookie cutter model that will work, but we think that there are gains that can be made overall."
