Understanding interim budget

PM Modi led NDA government is gearing up to present this year's budget as elections are round the corner

GN Bureau | January 21, 2019


#Arun Jaitley   #union budget   #interim budget   #central government   #parliment   #Narendra Modi   #India budget   #Budget 2019  
File photo (Arun Kumar)
File photo (Arun Kumar)

Narendra Modi-led NDA government is due to present its last budget on February 1, before the 2019 general elections. Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is currently in US for medical treatment, is likely to present the budget. This will be an interim budget of the NDA government.

Also read: Breaking down some key terms used in budget

But what exactly is an interim budget?
  • An interim budget is presented when the incumbent government is going through an election in the near future. In such a case, propriety demands that the task of framing the full budget be left to the incoming government
  • Through the interim budget, parliament passes a vote-on-account that allows the government to meet the expenses of the administration until the new parliament considers and passes the budget for the whole year.
Interim budget
 
1.       It is only for a period of two to four months until the new government is formed after elections.
2.       It does not contain tax reforms and introduction of new policies and schemes i.e., no financial bill.
3.       The government would still present the complete set of accounts including for both expenditures and receipts.
4.       No heavy discussions are carried out in the parliament during the interim budget.
 
Union budget
 
1.       It is for 12 months i.e., a full financial year.
2.       A full budget includes major policy/legal decisions that would affect the finances/expenditures of the government.
3.       The union budget, which comes with a Finance Act, contains several amendments to various legislations.
4.       The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha pass the budget only after discussion and voting on demand for grants.
 
  • The constitution provides for a vote on account, and that says that government can approach parliament to sanction expenditures for a part of the year.
  • The previous 12 interim budgets, since independence, have refrained from altering the financial bill.
  • Interim budget is considered to be crucial for the incumbent government as it is their last chance to attract the voters and make a fervent appeal to the electorate.  

 

Comments

 

Other News

Enhanced MCA21 V3 Portal Paves the Way for Improved Corporate Governance

By Sudhir Chaturvedi, Executive Board Member & President- Markets, LTIMindtree Corporate governance has always been a critical issue for businesses in India. As part of its ongoing digitalization drive, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) recently launched the latest

“I pray to God that such an incident never happens in future”

Life is slowly limping back to normalcy in Bahanaga, a block headquarters town in Odisha’s Balasore district that witnessed one of the deadliest rail disasters of the century. Train operations have resumed as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has begun the probe into the accident that claimed

Gandhi’s Triumph over the Fear of Death

The Essential U. R. Ananthamurthy Edited by N. Manu Chakravarthy and Chandan Gowda Aleph Books, Rs 899, 312 pages

Bird walks for youngsters to be held across India

Early Bird and the Rainmatter Foundation have announced five bird walks, led by naturalists, across India on June 10. The walks, to be held in Agartala, Dehradun, Mysore, Panjim, and Tirupati early in the morning, are part of the Rainmatter Foundation’s Walking Lightly campaign, being observed throug

India celebrates Environment Day with thrust on Mission LiFE

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India organized the World Environment Day on Monday with a thrust on Mission LiFE. The concept of LiFE, i.e., Lifestyle for Environment was introduced by prime minister Narendra Modi at the World Leaders` Summit in Glasgow at COP26, when

Green banking: an emerging way forward

Green Banking is an initiative taken by the banks to promote environment-friendly practices and reduce carbon footprint of their activities. Green financing (a part of ‘Green Banking’) is a broad term that can refer to a financial investment flowing into sustainable development projects and ini

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter