Finance Minister Conor Murphy has criticised a lack of information from the British government around Brexit, saying it is very difficult to plan for the end of the transition period just weeks away.
"We have a weekly meeting in relation to Brexit and it is always characterised by a lack of information and a lack of certainty," he told media during a ministerial visit in Dunmurry.
"The sooner we have some certainty in relation to Brexit the better.
"There is not going to be a good outcome to Brexit, it's just the least-worst option that we are trying to get to."
The British government said last week an extra £400m would go to Northern Ireland to address the effects of Brexit on trade, however Mr Murphy said he had not yet received any further detail on the funding.
"It was announced in the House of Commons and we were told the NIO (Northern Ireland Office) was going to follow up with further announcements so we haven't got the detail as yet," he said.
"Of course there is going to be huge cost to Brexit, not just in terms of the protocols and implementing the arrangements that are necessary but the cost to business, cost of doing business, the cost to communities, the full impact of this has not yet hit and we're still uncertain as to whether there will be a deal or not a deal.
"There will be significant costs, our budgets next year are not good, it's very much a standstill budget.
"The Covid allocation that has been identified for us is only a fraction of what we got this year and Covid will still be with us into the new financial year undoubtedly.
"There are big challenges ahead, any assistance or support is welcome but we have to see what it is identified for, what it is to be used for and then we have to see the full impact, not only of Brexit but of the continuation of Covid and the economic downturn that that is causing."
Mr Murphy said Stormont needs support for businesses.
"It's not just simply the question of putting the infrastructure in place, how do people navigate that in the time ahead?" he said.
"There is a huge amount of uncertainty, that is because they have run this Brexit drama right up to the wire.
"It means that people are now in the mouth of Christmas, things are going to change on January 1 and we still have no certainty in relation to that so undoubtedly we are going to have to assist people to navigate their way through that and I think that is going to be crucial in the time ahead."
