Budget process...

Budget constraints are to be communicated well in advance so that departments can plan accordingly.

According to the new process, the pre-Budget meetings will be held to finalise only the establishment and obligation expenditures. The final ceilings for central sector schemes and centrally sponsored schemes will likely be decided by the finance ministry in late January or early February, when the pre-Budget preparation reaches its final stage. The timeline for prebudget process will remain unchanged and will start, as per the existing practice, in lateOctober.

The medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) is presented by the government in the monsoon session of Parliament under the provisions of FRBM Act. In its current form, it only projects aggregated expenditure of major sectors or schemes. In its new planned avatar, it will indicate ministry- and department-wise projection for the next three years on a rolling basis.For example, next year the MTEF may show department-wise revenue, capital and total expenditure for revised estimates of 2016-17, budgeted estimates of 2017-18, and projected estimates for 2018-19 and 201920.

After the projected ceilings have been established in MTEF, the departments are likely to be asked to prepare an output/outcome statement against each scheme and project allocation. It will be mandatory for the departments to give such statements in measurable or quantitative terms. Hence, the future budget allocations will be output-based and dependent upon each department’s concrete achievements regarding their schemes and programmes.