A senior Tory backbencher has warned George Osborne not to let the Lib Dem tail "wag the Tory dog" by slowing down public spending cuts.
David Ruffley, a member of the influential Treasury select committee, said Tory MPs did not want to see a reduction in cuts "just to borrow more for longer", which he said was what some economists and the Labour Party wrongfully advocated.
"We are only, after all this necessary pain, by 2015 returning spending to the levels in 2008," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"Now I did not notice the fabric of British society was torn asunder by 2008 spending levels.
"We are actually talking about cutting our cloth accordingly, and 3.5% in real terms over five years is something George Osborne would like to do more about."
He added: "I think the Lib Dems at the start of this parliament probably put a brake on Osborne's cutting ambitions, it's a case of the Lib Dem tail wagging the Tory dog."
Ruffley also said the government should consider shutting the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Lib Dem cabinet minister Vince Cable's Department of Business, Innovation and Skills as they were "non-productive".
His comments reflect unhappiness among many Tory MPs at what they see as undue influence over government policy by the Lib Dems, who are the smaller party in the coalition.
However senior Lib Dems have frequently hit back at such criticism, pointing out that without their help the Tories would not be in power.
"I know that Tories would have liked to have won the general election, but they didn't," the party's deputy leader Simon Hughes told the BBC recently.
While a poll conducted by Tory party donor Lord Ashcroft last month revealed that the majority of people believed the Liberal Democrats should have more influence over government policy, not less.
Of those asked 51% said Nick Clegg should have more influence, only 23% said the Lib Dems had too much power.
On Wednesday the Financial Times reported that several Lib Dem MPs were urging their party leadership to force the government to change it's economic direction inorder to borrow more to pay for a short-term stimulus.
Lib Dem John Pugh told the paper: “We need to look again very carefully at the implications of the sharp reduction we have seen in capital expenditure."
The chancellor's handling of the economy has come under sustained fire in recent weeks following a succession of poor economic forecasts.
Last month official figures showed Britain had entered the longest double-dip recession for more than 50 years.
David Cameron was faced with sharp criticism from the Tory mayor of London on Wednesday, when Boris Johnson said the government needed to "stop pussyfooting around" and invest in infrastructure to kick-start growth, including the construction of a new airport.