What is the meaning of Budget ?

- Morarji Desai was the only Finance Minister to present two budgets on his birthday – in 1964 and 1968 on February 29

- Budget of 1973-74 is known for ‘Black Budget’ in India. During this year budget deficit in 1973-74 was Rs 550 crore

- The 1965-66 budgets contained the first disclosure scheme for black money

- Morarji Desai presented annual budgets for each year from 1959-60 to 1963-64 and the interim budget for 1962-63. The annual budgets for three years between 1967-68 and 1969-70 and the interim budget for 1967-68 were also presented by Morarji Desai

- Morarji Desai has presented the maximum number of budgets so far- ten. They included five annual and one interim budget in the second tenure when he was both Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister

-Jawaharlal Lal Nehru was the first prime minister to present the budget when he held the union finance minister portfolio in 1958-59

- 'Krishnamachari-Kaldor's 1957 budget featured the first attempt to distinguish between active income (salaries or business) and passive income (interest or rent)

- Budget papers began to be prepared in Hindi also from 1955-56

- C.D. Deshmukh, the first Indian Governor of the Reserve Bank of India as well as the Finance Minister, presented an interim budget for 1951-52

- Planning Commission came into existence while presenting the budget for 1950-51, the first budget for the Republic of India

- The first Budget of the Republic of India was presented by John Mathai on February 28, 1950

- The word “Interim Budget” was for the first time introduced by R.K. Shanmukham Chetty in his budget speech for 1948-49. From then onwards an interim budget began to mean a budget for a short period

- Independent India's First Budget spanned a period of just 7-1/2 months from August 15, 1947 to March 31, 1948

- After Independence, India’s first Finance Minister R.K. Shanmukham Chetty, presented the first Budget at 5 pm on 26th November, 1947

- The precedent for the convention of the budget speech started at 5:00 pm was set by Sir Basil Blackett in 1924. According to him, this was done to give some relief to officials who worked all night to present a financial statement

- The first Finance Member, who presented the Budget in India, was James Wilson on 7th April, 1860

- Budget was first introduced in India on 7th April, 1860 from East-India Company to British Crown

- The Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission, Administrative Ministries and the Comptroller & Auditor General are the main players in the declaration of the Union Budget

- The Budget is the most extensive account of Government finances in which revenues from all sources and expenses of all activities undertaken are aggregated. It comprises the revenue budget and the capital budget. It also contains estimates for the next fiscal year called budgeted estimates

- Finance Minister presents the annual Union Budget in the Parliament usually on the last working day of February

- The employees printing the Budget papers are kept in complete isolation (quarantine) in the Finance Ministry for one week before the Budget

- The Finance Bill seeking to give effect to the Government’s taxation proposals which is introduced in Lok Sabha immediately after the presentation of the General Budget, is taken up for consideration and passing after the Appropriation Bill is passed

- Indian budget is presented in Parliament on a date fixed by the President. The Budget speech of the finance minister is usually divided in two parts. Part A deals with general economic survey of the country while Part B relates to taxation proposals

- The word Budget was derived from the Middle English bowgette, which came from Middle French bougette, which in turn is a diminutive of bouge, meaning a leather bag

The Budget is a financial statement made annually by the Chancellor of the Exchequer – currently Philip Hammond – to the House of Commons. It covers the nation’s finances, plans for any tax changes, and forecasts for the economy.