FM to present final Budget speech on Feb 1; here's all you need to know

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her government's last full Budget before the general elections in 2024. The Union Budget for FY24 will be Sitharaman's fifth-straight Budget.

Back in 2019, when she presented her first Union Budget, she drew everyone's attention by replacing the 'Budget briefcase' with a 'bahi-khata'. However, in 2021 the bahi-khata was replaced with a tablet, giving a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push for Digital India.

The Budget speech, delivered by the union finance minister consists of two sections - Part A and Part B.

Part A of the Budget speech

Part A of the Budget speech gives an overview of the economy of the previous and the current year, while also providing Budget Estimates for the next financial year. It also provides a broad framework of government expenditure in detail for different sectors, presents new schemes for these sectors, and elaborates on the priorities of the government.

It also gives a review of the prevailing economic situation of the country and the ‘macro’ aspect of the economy. This segment of the speech also specifies the focus areas of the government.

In Part A of the Budget speech, the finance minister gives a brief overview of the total funds raised by the government via taxes or borrowings. Part A also gives a comprehensive breakdown of the expenditure of each ministry.

Part A also deals with the general economic survey of the country, fiscal deficit, current account deficit (CAD), and inflation.

Part B of the Budget speech

Part B or the second part highlights the government's tax proposals for the upcoming financial year, which has a direct bearing on the personal finance of the citizens. Part B should also be read along with the Finance Act - a document containing legal provisions.  A reader can understand these provisions by reading the attached Memorandum of Explanations, which gives a detailed background of changes.

Part B of the Budget speech informs the taxpayers of the state of the economy, the progress the government has made on various developmental measures, and the direction of future policies.

The finance minister also describes proposals for taxation or discloses variations in the current taxation system, while concluding the second part of the speech. The 'Annual Financial  Statement', which is a statement of estimated receipts and expenditures in respect of every financial year, from April 1 to March 31, is also presented at the conclusion of the Budget speech of the finance minister.

Key Facts

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds the record for presenting the longest Budget speech in 2020 when she spoke for two hours and 42 minutes. The finance minister also had to cut her speech short, when two pages of her speech were still remaining.

Nirmala Sitharaman broke her previous record for Budget speech in 2019. In her maiden Budget speech, she spoke for two hours and 17 minutes.

She delivered her shortest Budget speech in 2022 when she spoke for one hour and 31 minutes.

In 2019, Sitharaman became the second woman to have presented the Budget after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.