surf india

Union Budget Glossary

While reading or discussing Budget, you can come across several terms you might not be understanding. Here is an attempt by us to help you understand budget jargons.

Accountability

Accountability is the degree to which it is ensured that an organisation's money is collected and disbursed properly, and that an auditable record is kept of all transactions.

Appropriation Bill

This Bill enables withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund to pay off expenses. These are instruments that Parliament clears after the demand for grants has been approved by the Lok Sabha.

Budgetry Deficit

Time when the expenses exceed the revenues is known as Budgetry Deficit

Budget Estimate

These are the estimate of Fiscal Deficit and the Revenue Deficit for the year. The term is associated with the estimates of Center's spending during the financial year and the income received as proceeds of tax revenues.

Fiscal Deficit

Fiscal deficit occurs when the government's non-borrowed receipts fall short of its entire expenditure, it has to borrow money from the public to meet the shortfall. The excess of total expenditure over total non-borrowed receipts is called the fiscal deficit.

Primary Deficit

Primary deficit means when the revenue expenditure includes interest payments on government's earlier borrowings. The primary deficit is the fiscal deficit minus interest payments.

FRBM Act:

Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act which was enacted in 2003 mandates the elimination of revenue deficit by 2008-09. From 2008-09, the government is required to meet all its revenue expenditure from its revenue receipts. Only for meeting capital expenditure it is allowed to borrow.

Custom Duties

Custom duties are levied on goods when they are either brought into the country or exported from the country

Consolidated Fund

The government pools all its funds together in it. The fund includes all government revenues, loans taken and recoveries of loans granted.

Contingency Fund

The government has made this fund to help it tide over difficult situations. The fund is at the disposal of the President to meet urgent expenditure, pending approval from Parliament.

Central Plan

Government's budgetary support to Plan and, the internal and extra budgetary resources raised by the Public Sector Undertakings.

Direct Taxes

Taxes imposed directly on the customers like the Income Tax and the Corporate Tax

Disinvestment

Dilution of the government's stake in Public Sector Undertakings is known as disinvestment.

Excise Duties

These are duties imposed on goods manufactured within the country.

Finance Bill

Government's proposals for the imposition of new taxes, modification of existing tax structure or continuance of the existing tax structure beyond the period approved by Parliament.

Gross Domestic Product

Cumulative market value of the goods and services manufactured within the country in a financial year.

Gross National Procuct

Cumulative market value of the ready goods and services manufactured within the country in a given financial year, plus income earned by the locals from investments made abroad, minus the income earned by foreigners in local market.

Indirect Taxes

Taxes levied on goods manufactured, imported or exported such as Excise Duties and Custom Duties.

Plan Expenditure

Budgetry support to the central plan as well as the central assistance to state and Union territory plans. It is split into revenue and capital components.

Non-plan Expenditure

It is the revenue expenditure of the government. The capital component of the non-plan expenditure is comparatively small with maximum allocation going to defence.

Public Acount

It is an account where money received through transactions not relating to consolidated fund is put.

Subsidies

Financial aid provided by Government to individuals or a group of individuals to be competitive.