The Union Budget for 2017-18, which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented on February 1, had introduced three new features. One, it advanced the presentation of the Budget by about a month. Two, it abolished the distinction between Plan expenditure and Non-Plan expenditure. And three it subsumed the Railway Budget, obviating the need for the railway minister to deliver a separate speech.
No Budget in recent years has introduced as many innovations in a single year’s annual financial statement as Mr Jaitley has done. But what has been the outcome of these three initiatives?
The latest expenditure figures for the current financial year provide a clue to the impact of the first initiative. By the end of April 2017, the government has spent Rs 2.4 lakh crore, compared to Rs 1.6 lakh crore spent in the same month of 2016, when the Budget presentation cycle had not been advanced. The increased expenditure amounts to over 11 per cent of the total government outlay of Rs 21.47 lakh crore for the current year. Last financial year, only about 8 per cent of the total annual expenditure of Rs 20.14 lakh crore could be spent by the end of April. What makes it commendable is that April’s share in total spending this year has taken place on a much higher outlay base.
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