The Union Finance Ministry clarified that it will present an ‘Interim Budget 2019-20’ on February 1 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Thus, it has put to rest all speculations that the Narendra Modi-led NDA government could present a full-fledged budget.
Speculations have also stated that the ruling party may break the convention of presenting a vote on account, also known as interim Budget.
A vote on account means that the government seeks the approval of Parliament for meeting expenditure for the first four months of the fiscal year including paying salaries, ongoing programmes in different sectors etc with no changes in the taxation structure, until a new government takes over and presents a full Budget that is revised for the full fiscal.
However, the last Budget of the present NDA government is likely to be presented by interim Finance Minister, Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha.
Though main opposition party, Congress had said it will strongly oppose the presentation of a “full budget” by the BJP-led NDA government both inside and outside Parliament as it has “no electoral legitimacy.” Moreover, the step will also go against set precedents and Parliamentary traditions.
