With the Union Budget 2022 less than a week away, people, industries and markets are expecting some key announcements by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Budget will be presented on February 1, 2022, and this will be the fourth budget by Nirmala Sitharaman.
To understand the government’s expenditure for the year, there are certain key terms and financial indicators like Public Accounts that need to be understood.
What is a Public Account?
Public Account of India refers to those transactions in which the Government is merely a banker.
The fund was constituted under Article 266 (2) of the Constitution.
What does a Public Account comprise of?
Provident Funds, Small Savings collections, the income of Government set apart for expenditure on specific objects such as road development, primary education, other Reserve/Special Funds among other things.
Parliamentary Authorisation
Since these funds do not belong to the government, no parliamentary authorisation is required for withdrawal and they have to be paid back to the depositors.
But that isn't the case with money that is allocated from the Consolidated Fund for specific objectives or projects and transferred to the Public Account. The expenditure amount on the specific object has to then go through a vote of the Parliament before its withdrawal from the Public Account.
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Published 25 January 2022, 10:53 IST