By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent
George Osborne and Ed Balls are preparing to face questions from a live audience on Sky News, in an event that could decide which party voters trust with the public finances.
"Ask The Chancellors", which will be held at the headquarters of Facebook in London, follows on from similar question and answer sessions for party leaders including David Cameron and Ed Miliband.
The two men face a grilling on their economic plans from an audience of key opinion formers, including entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Ask The Chancellors will be broadcast live on Sky News and all its platforms as well as live streamed to millions on the Sky News Facebook page and YouTube channel.
The clash comes at a crucial time, with the latest Sky News projection of seat numbers in the House of Commons suggesting both main parties are well short of the 326 seats they need for an overall majority.
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Gallery: Sky Projection: Main Parties Well Short Of Overall Majority
Ahead of the showdown, political insiders have revealed the pair "get on" well, despite their very public political clashes.
Conservative activist and commentator Tim Montgomerie told Sky News that the men have a "good private relationship", while Damian McBride, who once worked with Mr Balls in the Treasury, said they like each other on a "personal level".
Mr McBride revealed the two men's private relationship to the Murnaghan show. He later added that there was common ground because both men have so many interests and hobbies outside of politics.
He said: "It is very rare that you meet politicians with so many outside interests that don't want to talk about politics all the time. (Ed Balls) would rather be talking about football or the theatre or what he watched on TV last night so he is that kind of personality and I think that is why he gets on with George Osborne."
However, he admitted that they "fundamentally" disagreed on politics.
He praised Mr Balls for effectively "running the Treasury" when he was a key adviser to Gordon Brown, crediting him with giving independence to the Bank of England and keeping Britain out of the Euro.
As for the Chancellor, Mr Montgomerie suggested he was misunderstood.
He argued that if you asked 10 people in the street if they would rather spend time with Mr Osborne or the Prime Minister nine out of 10, including Mr Montgomerie's "mum" would say David Cameron.
He added: "But in my experience, the livelier, chattier, warmer person is certainly George Osborne – he is great company, great fun to be with, he actually has quite a good private relationship with Ed Balls but it doesn't come over on the TV and in the TV age that hurts him."
Mr Montgomerie also revealed that the Chancellor was deeply upset by the "awful" incident in 2012 when he was booed at the Paralympic Games, with his children present.
Before that he had been known as the "submarine Chancellor" he said, who did his work invisibly, below the surface.
Mr Montgomerie said: "But after that horrible experience he decided he needed to repair his image somewhat he had his hair restyled, he lost some weight, he had a new image adviser, and his ratings have slowly improved, they've tracked the improvements in the economy so that now he is actually a more popular figure than Nick Clegg or Ed Miliband in some opinion polls."
The Chancellor has famously lost weight through jogging and the 5-2 fasting diet, but Mr Montgomerie argued that the upturn in popularity would not have come without the changing economic situation in Britain.
As for the warm relationship between Mr Balls and Mr Osborne behind the scenes, the same cannot be said about the shadow Chancellor and Mr Cameron.
The Prime Minister has called Mr Balls the "most annoying person in modern-day politics" and criticised his famous House of Commons gestures.
:: George Osborne will face live questions from 2.30pm and Ed Balls from 3.30pm on Sky Channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 132 as well as all digital platforms, including the Sky News Facebook page and YouTube channel.
:: Get involved with the event via the Stand Up Be Counted and Sky News Facebook pages using the hashtag #AskTheChancellors.
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