The prime minister was in Brisbane on Monday to launch a $1.8 billion joint investment between state, local and federal governments to facilitate more than 30 projects, as part of a “city deal” for southeast Queensland.

“We’re very conscious of those cost-of-living pressures that have been caused by these awful events that we’ve seen with the unlawful invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” Mr Morrison told reporters.

“The budget is on next week and we’ve been carefully considering our response to ensure that we can deliver a budget that both addresses those immediate needs but also ensures that we continue on with our strong economic plan.”

The federal government is injecting $667.77 billion into the southeast Queensland city deal.

“It’s everything from waste management to improving local amenities to major transport infrastructure particularly out there at the Gabba Hub,” Morrison earlier told 4BC Brisbane radio.

“And it’s also about the jobs of the future.”

The government also announced a further $60 million for its recycling modernisation fund aimed at tackling problematic plastics like bread bags and chip packets.

The investment, to be included in the March 29 budget, will increase the fund to $250 million, as it helps drive a $1 billion transformation of the waste and recycling sector.

Morrison said the government was committed to stopping harmful plastics from entering the oceans, choking up waterways and destroying marine life.

“This new funding stream, dedicated to helping solve the problem of hard to recycle plastic waste, demonstrates our determination to invest in Australian industry, to growing the recycling sector and to creating a stronger economy and stronger future for Australia,” he said.

“Three years ago I made a commitment at the UN to stop plastic waste from entering our oceans, a commitment that has sparked a recycling revolution in Australia.”

Mr Frydenberg could hand down a much-improved budget position due to a strong economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and a commodity price boom caused by the war in Ukraine, Deloitte Access Economics economist Chris Richardson says.

For the 2021/22 financial year, he is forecasting a deficit of $68.8 billion, compared to the $99.2 billion predicted in December’s mid-year budget review.

“We are getting a Covid recovery and a commodity boom, the biggest really that we have had,” Mr Richardson told AAP, as he released his twice-yearly budget monitor.

Meanwhile, the government wants a significant shake-up of Australia’s payments system aimed at supporting growth, investment, jobs and innovation.

“Cryptocurrencies and assets are a global phenomenon and as more Australians invest in these new asset classes and embrace the new technologies underpinning them, it is critical that we have a robust and competitive tax and regulatory regime in place,” Frydenberg said.

“Tax certainty for investors and those transacting will also be vital.”

As such, the government has initiated a Board of Taxation review into the appropriate tax settings for these assets.