Budget of a government a statement of its finances for a particular year. It indicates how the government or a public body concerned proposes to raise its revenue and incur its expenditure. If the expenditure happens to be in excess of revenue, the government state how the gap is to be met through raising various types’ taxes or loans.
A government in Pakistanwhether federal or provincial, has two sections of budget (1) Revenue budget (2) Capital budget. The revenue budget is concerned with the current needs and functions of government like defence, civil administration, judicial services, police and beneficent activities in the field of education, health, agriculture etc.
The capital budget of the government is concerned with building of lasting works of a capital nature, like irrigation, canals, dams, roads and other constructions.
Major Expenditure Heads of the Federal Budget:
As we know that Public Expenditure may be (i) Development Expenditure which is shown in the Capital Budget or what may be called Development Budget. The expenditure in the Revenue Budget is mostly Non-Development Expenditure. The major heads of expenditure are discussed below.
i) Debt Services: Under this head are included interest on debt and other obligations and provision for reduction and avoidance of debt. This expenditure has been on the increase.
ii) Defence Services: The next to debt services comes the most important spending deparnent of Federal Government and takes away a high proportion of its total is defence services.
iii) Development Expenditure or ADP: The Annual Development Programme of the Government in the Public
Sector has following objectives.
a) To consolidate investment level.
b) To bring about improvement in the standard of living of the common man.
c) To build up social and physical infrastructure, particularly the efficient transport and communication system which can help in achieving the objectives of balanced development and integration of the economy.
d) To enlarge employment opportunities by identifying areas in which labour intensive intermediate technology can be effectively used.
e) To give maximum push to agriculture as well as to industries serving it and based on it.
f) To accelerate the pace of development in the less developed areas.
g) To make provision for implementing policies in the field of health, education labour and wages.
h) To implement people’s works and other rural development programmes.
Within this framework ADP seeks.
1) To earmark more funds for major on going projects such as Motorway and power projects.
2) To protect the requirement of agricultural inputs which yield quick returns?
3) To expand the water logging and salinity control work in view of its importance for agricultural development.
.jpg)