A budget is a complex document with a lot of numbers. Although it is one of the most important events in India’s economic calendar most people tune it out because of the complicated financial jargon involved.
News18 brings you a basic primer on some of the important numbers in the budget and their meaning.
Tax Revenue: A measure of how much revenue the government expects by way of taxes, which are of two kinds: Direct (Income Tax) and Indirect (sales, VAT, excise, customs).
Non Tax Revenue: Any revenue the government earns which is not tax. For instance the money from spectrum auctions, coal auctions etc.
Fiscal Deficit/Surplus: One of the most important numbers in the budget, it is the shortfall between the total revenue and expenditure of the government. If revenue is greater there is a surplus and if expenditure is greater it is a deficit. It is the measure of whether the government has been able to balance its accounts.
Borrowings: The amount of money the government has to borrow to cover the fiscal deficit (expenditure – revenue). The government borrows money from financial markets by issuing bonds, which are essentially debt instruments which promise to repay the amount with an interest.
Subsidy: The amount of money that the government devotes to subsidies. Food, petroleum and fertilizer subsidy make up the bulk of this amount.
Disinvesment target: The amount of money the government expects to make from selling its equity stake in public sector units. This is non tax revenue for the government.
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