Stormont officials will have legal powers to spend up to 95% of last year’s funding from Saturday, as a deadline passes without an Executive budget.
The automatic limit is triggered at the end of July under public finance laws if a budget has not been agreed.
In theory, it will cap departmental spending at 5% below last year’s level.
In practice, actual 5% cuts are highly unlikely, as the Northern Ireland secretary can ultimately step in and pass a budget through Westminster.
That scenario unfolded in both November 2017 and November 2022 during previous political deadlocks.
It will nonetheless make the management of public finances more difficult as officials will be uncertain about exactly how much is available to spend.
Executive ministers are continuing to push the Treasury for additional funding they say is needed to deliver a viable budget.
There had been hope that Stormont could agree a multi-year budget in January for the first time in more than 10 years.
That did not happen and a one-year budget was also not agreed.
As a result public services in Northern Ireland have been operating with contingency budgets since the start of the financial year in April.