Besides the customary President’s address, the Economic Survey report will also be tabled on January 31 while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be presenting the Union Budget on February 1 instead of the usual practice of presentation on February 28 or 29.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already held pre-budget consultations with the representatives of various sections. Busy with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Tuesday, sources said he would try to wind up the remaining consultations with the stakeholders in the next four days from Wednesday. They said Jaitley is racing against time to prepare three GST-related Bills for consideration by Parliament in the budget session to usher in the new indirect tax regime from June 1, if not from April 1 as planned earlier.
Officials expect the latest move of presenting budget a month earlier will allow for earlier allocation of funds for government schemes and projects and lead to their better implementation on the ground. In the past, funds were usually not allotted from the beginning of the financial year on April 1, creating a backlog and choking funds. Parliament passes the budget through a two-stage process. A vote on account is passed in March to meet necessary expenses on employees’ salaries and other costs for two to three months. The finance bill, which contains tax changes, and the demands and appropriation bill, which spells out full year expenditure details, are passed in May. Political pressures often force tax changes proposed in February during the finance bill’s passage in May.
(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:goodreturns.in)
