As all eyes are on February 1 when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be tabling the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, what is important is to know some of the regular Budget related terms that we will often hear in conversations in the coming days. Among them, two very important terms that we need to understand amid all the discussions over the annual financial exercise are below:
Contingency fund
Any urgent expenses are met by the contingency fund. This fund is released by the President under Article 267. The money taken from these funds is later received through a consolidated fund.
Consolidated Fund
The amount received by the government through direct and indirect taxes or through borrowing or receiving of loans come under Consolidated funds. Article 266 (1) describes all government expenditures are to be met by consolidated funds except a few made by contingency fund or public fund. In the financial year 2018-19 the sum of one lakh ninety-eight thousand eight hundred thirty-one crore and thirty-six lakh rupees (Rs 198831,36,00,000) was asked as the consolidated fund.