Ministerial chiefs of staff have been ordered to finalise their new policy proposals for the federal election and submit them to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's office.

The reminder, delivered by Mr Turnbull's chief of staff Drew Clarke at a closed door meeting on Tuesday, came after some offices missed the February 19 deadline for new policy proposals - NPPs - to be submitted.

And in another sign the next election is unlikely to see big spending promises from the Coalition, ministers have also been told that any policy proposal they put forward must be offset, or more than offset, by savings elsewhere in the budget.

The reminder for so-called NPPs to be filed has increased chatter in government ranks about a 53-day election campaign that would begin on May 11, a day after the federal budget is handed down, and culminate in a July 2 double dissolution election.