Arun Jaitley to present Interim Budget 2019 on 1st February 2019

Last time, then FM P. Chidambaram had presented Interim Budget 2014 on 17th February 2014, and later FM Arun Jaitley had presented full Budget 2014-15 on 10th July 2014 after NDA won the General Elections 2014 with a heavy mandate and came to power to form the Central government. Budget 2019 is going to be the 6th consecutive budget announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (C) arrives at Parliament House to present the Union Budget in New Delhi on February 1, 2018. (Photo by Money SHARMA /FILE PIC AFP)

Budget 2019: On 1st February 2019, FinMin Arun Jaitley will present the last Budget for the incumbent Narendra Modi led NDA Government before the General Elections 2019. The Finance Ministry confirmed yesterday, that it will release the Interim Budget aka Vote-on-account on 1st day of February 2019 wherein the present government will seek Parliament’s approval for government expenditure and spending for the months of April to July 2019. For the uninitiated, an Interim Budget is presented in an election year, wherein the incumbent presents a Vote-on-Account for the period before the new government assumes office. Last time, then FM P. Chidambaram had presented Interim Budget 2014 on 17th February 2014, and later FM Arun Jaitley had presented full Budget 2014-15 on 10th July 2014 after NDA won the General Elections 2014 with a heavy mandate and came to power to form the Central government. Budget 2019 is going to be the 6th consecutive budget announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. General Elections or Lok Sabha Polls 2019 will be underway any time after April 2019, and once the new government occupies centre, it will present a full-fledged Budget for 2019. As the preparation of Budget 2019 started last December, the North Block of the Indian Parliament, which happens to be the office of the Finance Ministry was quarantined for media persons and visitors. However, a complete cut-off of around 100 Finance Ministry personnel which are closely encompassed in the Budget process will come into effect in the last weeks of January 2019.