Finance Ministry to kick-start exercise to prepare annual budget for 2020-21 from October 14

New Delhi, Oct 7 (KNN) In a bid to address critical issues pertaining to slowdown in growth and subdued revenue collection, the finance ministry will kick-start the exercise to prepare annual budget for 2020-21 from October 14.

"The pre-Budget/RE (Revised Estimate) meetings will begin on the October 14, 2019. All financial advisers should ensure that the necessary details related to these meetings contained in the RE module of the UBIS (Union Budget Information System)," according to a Budget Circular (2020-21) of the budget division of the finance ministry's Department of Economic Affairs.

Pre-Budget meetings will begin from October 14 and continue till the first week of November. The Budget estimates for 2020-21 will be provisionally finalised after the expenditure secretary completes discussions with other secretaries and financial advisers.

"Some of the new inclusions in the Circular relate to instructions regarding filling up of scheduled caste sub plan and tribal sub plan, gender, child budget statements, etc.," it said.

The government scrapped a colonial-era tradition of presenting the Budget at the end of February. Then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had for the first time presented the annual accounts on February 1, 2017.

Due to preponement of the Budget, ministries are now allocated their budgeted funds from the start of the financial year beginning April which allows government departments more space to spend as well as to allow companies time to adapt to business and taxation plans.

Previously, the budget approval process used to get completed sometime in mid-May, weeks ahead of onset of monsoon rains which delayed the departments to start spending on projects only from August-end or September, after the monsoon season ended.

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