City Hall's finances have been described as being in a "precarious" state, with millions in savings needed to help balance budgets.
Leaders at Norwich City Council have warned some "lower priority" services could be stopped altogether in a drive to save £6.2m by 2023/24.
The authority has not outlined which services could be halted.
The scale of the problem has grown for the council, in part due to the added pressure from inflation, with the amount it needs to save in the next four years rising from £10m to £11m.
Stephen Evans, the council's chief executive, said the financial challenges facing the council over the next few years will be “stark” and "difficult to overcome"
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he said: “The council’s already demanding financial situation is made significantly worse by rapidly increasing inflation.
"It will impact the cost of the goods we purchase, how much we pay our staff, the infrastructure we deliver and the services we provide.”
The council only has reserves of £9.9m and officers at the Labour-controlled council says it has to keep £5.1m in reserves as a minimum, so the £4.8m it could spend would not cover the gap.
The chief executive said this was a “significant increase in the scale of the challenge” describing the council's situation as "precarious".
He was also that it did not appear the government was willing to step in to support councils.
The council will be taking a "serious look" at its priorities over the next 12 to 18 months, examining what the most important things to deliver are.
Mr Evans added: "By implication this will mean that some things we want to do simply can't be delivered during this period and perhaps not for the foreseeable future.
"It is likely that we will have to stop doing some lower priority things altogether."
Gail Harris, the deputy leader of the council, warned the council could doubly be hit as inflation leads to more demand on its services, particularly homelessness.
She said: "It’s not as though we can stand still, we have to provide more in many cases.”
The cabinet agreed officers should identify ongoing actions to close the estimated budget gap.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here