Budget 2024: A quick guide on how to read the Budget document

livemint.com:

Nirmala Sitharaman will rise up in the Lok Sabha to present the Union Budget 2024-25. It will be an interim Budget as the elections for the Lok Sabha are due early next year. The full Budget for FY25 will be presented after the formation of the new government following the general elections.

The Union Budget contains details about the estimated receipts and the expenditure of the government for a particular fiscal year. The Budget is allotted for the upcoming fiscal year, which runs from 1st April to 31st March of the next year. Here is a quick guide on how to read and easily understand the Budget document.

These Budget documents are uploaded onto www.indiabudget.gov.in within hours of the finance minister’s speech in Lok Sabha. The Budget starts with the speech of the Union Finance Minister. Though the speech is a minor part, but it is the most essential element of the Budget document.

It can be divided into two parts: The first part (Part A) of the Budget tells about the expectations and reform strategy for the coming financial year and the second part (Part B) carries tax announcements—both direct and indirect. Part-A of the Finance Minister’s Budget Speech announces planned schemes for different sectors of the economy like health, education, services, banking and other financial services, rural and urban sectors, capital markets, SMEs, MSMEs, large businesses, and infrastructure development among other others. This section also contains the different welfare schemes planned for the targeted groups like women, farmers, and students besides the budget targets like fiscal deficit, divestment, and government borrowings etc.