Sponsor Area
The Government : Budget And The Economy
State objectives of government budget?
or
How can a government budget help in reducing inequalities through redistribution of income? Explain.
or
Explain 'allocation of resources' objective of governent budget.
Objectives of a Government Budget. Briefly put, promoting rapid and balanced economic development with equality and social justice has been the general objective of all our policies and plans. General objectives of a government budget are as under:
(i) Economic growth. To promote rapid and balanced economic growth so as to improve living standard of the people. Economic growth implies increasing capacity of the economy to produce more goods and services. Public welfare is the main guide.
(ii) Reduction of Poverty and Unemployment. To eradicate mass poverty and unemployment by creating maximum employment opportunities and providing maximum social benefits to the poor. Social welfare is the single most objective of the government. Every Indian should be able to meet his basic needs like food, clothing, housing along with decent health care and educational facilities.
(iii) Reallocation of Resources. (A 2010, D 2011) To reallocate resources in line with social and economic objectives, government has to allocate resources into areas where private sector is not coming, e.g., sanitation, water supply, rural development, education, health, etc. Moreover, government provides more funds to productive sectors and draws away resources from some other sectors to promote balanced economic growth of different regions.
(iv) Reduction of inequalities/Redistribution of income. To reduce inequalities of income and wealth government can influence distribution of income through levying taxes on the rich and granting subsidies to poor. Government uses progressive taxation policy, i.e., high rate of tax on rich people and lower rate on lower income group. Government provides subsidies and amentities to people whose income level is low. More, emphasis is laid on equitable distribution of wealth and income. Economic progress in itself is not a sufficient goal but goal must be equitable progress.
(v) Price Stability/Economic stability. Government can bring economic stability i.e. can control fluctuations in general price level through taxes, subsidies and expenditure. For instance when there is inflation (continuous rise in prices), govt. can reduce its expenditure and when there is depression characterised by following output and prices, govt. can reduce taxes and grant subsidies to encourage spending by people.
(vi) Management of public enterprises. To manage, public enterprises which are of the nature of monopolies like railways, electricity, etc.
Impact of the budget. A budget impacts the society at three levels: (i) It promotes aggregate fiscal discipline through controlled expenditure, given the quantum of revenues. (ii) Resources of the country are allocated on the basis of social priorities. (iii) It contains effective and efficient programmes for delivery of goods and services to achieve its targets and goals. In short, the budget impacts the economy through aggregate fiscal discipline, resource allocation and provision of programmes for delivery of services.
Some More Questions From The Government : Budget And The Economy Chapter
What do you understand by Budget Receipts (Govt. Receipts)? Describe its two types.
Differentiate between Revenue Receipts and Capital Receipts.
Describe components of Revenue Receipts (Receipts from tax revenue and non tax revenue).
or
Distinguish between Tax and non-tax revenue. Name two sources of non-tax revenue receipts.
Explain components of Capital Receipts.
or
Name two sources of Capital Receipts.
or
Why is recovery of loan treated as a capital receipt?
Giving reasons categorise the following into revenue receipts and capital receipts.
(i) Recovery of loans, (ii) Corporation tax, (iii) Dividend on investment made by govt. (iv) Sale of public sector undertaking.
Define a tax.
Distinguish between Direct and Indirect taxes.
or
What is the basis of classifying taxes into direct tax and indirect tax? Give an example of each.
Classify the following into direct and indirect tax. Give reasons.
(i) Wealth tax, (ii) Entertainment tax, and (iii) Income tax.
What is meant by Budget (Government) Expenditure? Describe its components (items).
Distinguish between revenue expenditure and capital expenditure.
or
What is the basis of classifying government expenditure into revenue expenditure and capital expenditure?
Sponsor Area
Mock Test Series
Mock Test Series



