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.
