New Delhi. The government is going to start the exercise of preparing the general budget for the financial year 2023-24 from Monday. It is believed that the government’s annual budget for the next financial year will focus on measures to boost growth amid a sluggish global scenario.
The budget process will begin with consultations with various ministries and departments on the Revised Estimates (RE) of expenditure for the current financial year 2022-23 and the fund requirement for 2023-24.
On Monday, the first day of meetings will be held with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Labor and Employment, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Revised Estimates. Most of the meetings on Revised Estimates for the current financial year and Budget Estimates for 2023-24 will be chaired by the Finance Secretary and the Expenditure Secretary.
According to the Budget Division of the Ministry of Finance, the one-month-long deliberations were held on November 10 between the Ministry of Cooperation, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. together with the meetings. The Budget Estimates for 2023-24 will be tentatively finalized after the pre-budget meetings.
These meetings are going to take place at a time when several institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India and the World Bank have reduced India’s growth rate estimates to 7 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively. This will be the fifth budget of the Narendra Modi 2.0 government and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This will be the last full budget before the general elections to be held in April-May 2024.
In an election year, the government offers a vote on account for a limited period. After that the budget is presented in July. The budget for the financial year 2023-24 is expected to be presented on February 1, 2023.
