Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on December 7 played down expectations for the upcoming interim Budget in February, ruling out any spectacular announcements before the general elections.
“I am not going to play spoilsport, but it is a matter of truth that the February 1, 2024, Budget that will be announced will just be a vote on account because we will be in election mode, and elections will happen during the coming summer.
“So the Budget will just be to meet the expenditure till a new government comes. So no spectacular announcements are made at that time,” she said at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
“So you may have to wait till the new government comes in July. Things have to wait till then,” the FM added.
A vote on account is a special provision under which the government seeks Parliament’s nod for incurring essential expenditures required for a limited period of time until a regular Budget is presented by a new elected Government.