The North's Minister for Finance Peter Robinson will reveal his draft budget today to a special sitting of the Assembly.
It will be the first budget statement delivered to the Assembly since 2001. Those in the interim have been produced by direct rule ministers. Mr Robinson's announcement will also refer to the revised investment strategy for Northern Ireland.
First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will also tell the Assembly of the Executive's legislative plans contained in the programme for Government.
The announcements will be made in the context of recent tensions within the Executive, with controversies still raging over financial support for a loyalist conflict transformation initiative linked to the UDA, the dropping of a planned Irish language Bill and disputes over a new visitors' centre at the Giant's Causeway.
Alliance leader David Ford said yesterday: "given the current turmoil, they will have to produce something very special to win over the public.
"It's simply not good enough just having the Assembly up and running. The Executive must show that it can deliver good value for money by producing fresh ideas and coherent plans."
Mr Robinson has already dropped broad hints of the direction he would like to see the Northern Ireland economy to take.
It was suggested to The Irish Timesthe Minister will set out to change "the direct rule mindset" with its emphasis on the increasing dependence on the subvention from the British exchequer, and to promote private-sector innovation.
In an address to the Irish Taxation Institute in Dublin earlier this month, Mr Robinson said: "this may be done through direct financial assistance that will help to establish challenge funds and venture capital funds; and through investment in enhanced centres of excellence and technology competence centres."
Mr Robinson is also expected to set each of Stormont's 10 departments strict efficiency targets aimed at saving up to £750 million (€1.08 billion) by 2010- 2011. With that in mind some departments could face minor budget cuts.
His statement is also expected to reflect his unhappiness with the quality of many jobs currently available and what he sees as the need for high-end quality graduate employment.
To that end, he may refer to a closer involvement by the business sector in the curriculum design of further education courses.
The Minister has sounded conciliatory on the issue of North-South co-operation, but has stopped short of an outright endorsement of the development of an all-island economy or the merger of certain state bodies.
Instead he has couched the issue in terms of mutual benefit.
"The key is to become more outward-looking, more innovative and more productive. As part of this, co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland can be mutually beneficial," he said recently.
"Of course there will be times when we are in competition, but in an increasingly competitive global economy, I firmly believe both economies can prosper."